


Solitary Goodbye

by Deadlihood



Series: Hauntings [3]
Category: EXO (Band), f(x)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst, M/M, Sufanxing is the new black, brief mention of underage relationship, im going to hell for this one im really sorry, like really i hurt myself with this one, other characters appear but shh they're surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 00:42:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9048472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deadlihood/pseuds/Deadlihood
Summary: The ghosts of the past don't stay there. Sehun should know that by now.





	

Sehun could remember the exact day that his life had gone to hell.

He’d been at work with Minseok, trying to get the inventory together for the town’s art festival. They typically got about a week of dry weather in the middle of the summer, and the town was making good use of it. Minseok and Sehun were picking out some of their more typical inventory to sell at the booth they’d reserved.

Knee deep in a sea of boxes, Sehun heard his name being called from the front of the store. “Give me a second!” He hollered back, trying to pick his way out safely without crushing one of the boxes. He reached the front of the store, bracelets jangling against the wood shelves as he leaned against it to catch his breath. “What’s up?”

“Baekhyun and his friend are coming to see us after they bother Lu and Jongdae.” Minseok said, tossing Sehun a washcloth to wipe the dust and sweat off his face. “How’s the packing going?”

“We’re definitely going to need Kris’s help tomorrow, we’ve got so many boxes.” Sehun wiped the back of his neck, the short hairs there curling up from the sweat.

“Do you want to put a jacket on?”

“Are you trying to kill me, Min? It’s so hot in here.”

“I was more thinking if you wanted to cover those up.” Minseok gestured at the gold bands around Sehun’s wrists.  Sehun glanced down at them, the bracelets that had become a part of his body very quickly.

“They just look like gold bracelets. They’ll be fine.” Sehun shrugged. Unless Baekhyun’s friend looked very closely and saw the tiny runes etched into both bracelets, he wouldn’t notice anything odd about them.

They’d been a Christmas present from Jongin and Amber. Jongin had bought him the bracelets, delicate gold things that didn’t overpower Sehun’s slender arms; Amber had done the careful etching in them that dampened Sehun’s empath power so that he could live his daily life without everyone else’s emotions interfering. Sehun had thought he had been lucky enough to get rid of it, but it had come back with full force.

It had been the worst when he was teaching Junmyeon how to deal with his own newfound power. After his possession and stint in the astral plane, Junmyeon’s ability to sense ghosts had strengthened, to the point where he could see them and sense them almost as well as Sehun could. It had been rough going, teaching him to manage it while he was recovering from the experience. Junmyeon had been lucky to have Kris and Yixing there to support him.

The bell rang over the door and Sehun straightened up reflexively. Baekhyun appeared first, a bright smile on his face. The man who came in after him was like no one Sehun had ever seen. He was wearing a navy blue suit with a crisp white shirt and a cravat. His hair was swept off his face, revealing a pair of gold hoops in each ear, and he carried a cane or a walking stick. Sehun wondered what kind of costume party he was going to.

“Minseok, Sehun, this is my friend Heechul.” Baekhyun said, presenting the odd man with a flourish. “Heechul, the owner of the store, Minseok, and Sehun.” Baekhyun’s mouth twitched slightly, as if he wanted to call Sehun by his proper title, which was Assistant Manager of Spirits.

“Pleasure to meet you.” Heechul swept them a bow before shaking their hands. His palms were cool and soft. “Baekhyun has been telling me about all of his friends here. I’m glad to see he has such a good network.”

“How did you and Baekhyun meet?” Minseok asked, leaning against the glass countertop.

“Heechul and I have known each other for years, before I even met Chanyeol.” Baekhyun said a little too quickly. Sehun glanced at Minseok, who was cleaning his glasses just to give himself something to do other than laugh.

“Well you’re lucky you came during the dry week. Any other time you’d be hiding somewhere inside.” Sehun said to fill the silence.

“Well, I had to come see my Baekhyun perform.” Heechul leaned over and kissed the side of Baekhyun’s neck. Sehun gaped, Minseok frowned; Baekhyun giggled.

“You had to come, and ended up sleeping in our studio.” Baekhyun pushed him playfully. “How’s that smell of turpentine?”

“I’ve smelled worse things, stayed in worse places.” Heechul glanced at Sehun and Minseok, who both probably looked stunned still. “Will you be at the festival as well?”

“We’re working a booth during the day, but when the performances start at night we’ll be there to support Baekhyun and Chanyeol.” Minseok managed to get out.

“Wonderful.” Heechul grinned, one hand slipping around to rest on Baekhyun’s slender waist.

“We should go, I’m sure you two have a lot to do for the inventory for tomorrow.” Baekhyun fluttered forward to hug them before disappearing down the stairs after Heechul.

There was a beat of silence before Minseok turned to Sehun and said, “what the fuck?”

“I don’t know either.” Sehun shook his head. “I’ll grab us some iced tea from downstairs and get the scoop from Luhan.”

He went down the back stairs and peeked out to make sure Heechul and Baekhyun hadn’t gone back into the café. When he ascertained the coast was clear, he walked out into the kitchen, where Jongdae was sitting with his shirt off fanning himself with an aluminum pan.

“That hot, Dae?” Sehun asked.

“Luhan gets to be up front with the air conditioning and I’m dying back here with the ovens.” Jongdae whined.

Sehun checked the timers on the ovens. “Put your shirt back on and come have some iced tea with me.”

In the end, he wound up with some lavender lemonade, which was new on the menu, and Luhan’s attention.

“So, did you meet Baekhyun’s friend?” Sehun asked before taking a loud slurp from the straw. Luhan grimaced at him.

“Heechul Kim, he of the walking stick and the cravat? Yeah we saw him.” Luhan shook his head. “What an odd little creature.”

“Did he and Baekhyun seem…odd?” Sehun didn’t know how to phrase it politely and without spreading rumors among the family.

“I’m like 90% sure that’s his old sugar daddy.” Jongdae said over his glass of lemonade. Sehun and Luhan whipped their heads around to look at Jongdae, who raised his eyebrows. “You didn’t know that?”

“No, I did not know Baekhyun had a sugar daddy.” Sehun said. “What do you know about it?”

“Baekhyun told me about it once when he was high. Didn’t name any names, but he mentioned he had a sugar daddy in his old hometown. Apparently the guy paid for some hospital bills when Baekhyun “fell” a few times. He was good to him, as far as I know, but Chanyeol apparently never knew about it.”

“So Baekhyun invited his sugar daddy to stay with him and Chanyeol? Doesn’t that seem kind of stupid?” Luhan asked. Sehun was still stuck on the memory of Baekhyun’s many “falls” as a teenager. His dad used to beat the shit out of him all the time and when it got too bad, Baekhyun’s mother would take him to the hospital and say he fell down the stairs. How no one had ever investigated the family was beyond Sehun.

“It might not be him, but it kind of fits the bill, doesn’t it? He looks like some weird rich dude, he’s definitely older than any of us, and he’s oddly affectionate with Baekhyun.” Sehun filled them in about the neck kiss upstairs.

“Oh fuck me, poor Chanyeol doesn’t know anything about this.” Luhan pursed his lips.

“It’s not our place to tell him. And we don’t even know if Heechul’s the one.” Jongdae shook his head. “I don’t know. We’ll have to see how they are at family dinner.”

“We’re having family dinner with this guy?” Sehun didn’t even know Junmyeon was planning anything.

“Of course. Do you think Suho would let Heechul slip away without a family dinner?” Luhan poured a glass of iced tea and squeezed a little lemon into it. “Here, take this to Minnie. We can’t stand around gossiping all day.”

Sehun gave Minseok the abbreviated version of what Jongdae had told him over the iced tea. Minseok’s owl eyes got even bigger. “Baekhyun had a sugar daddy?”

“Doesn’t seem right, with what we’ve heard about his life in that place.” Sehun shook his head. “I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”

“Certainly going to be an interesting dinner.” Minseok shook his head, diving back into the inventory.

Sehun drove home after work to take a shower. Jongin was on their couch in shorts and a t-shirt, the windows open behind him to let in the salty breeze.

“Hey babe, how was work?” Jongin asked as Sehun came in, kicking off his shoes.

“Hot.” Sehun had decided against telling Jongin about the Heechul-as-sugar-daddy theory, if only to keep the situation contained. “Family dinner tonight though, so we can have dinner without sweating to death.”

“Oh perfect.” Jongin looked down at himself. “I’m going to have to change, aren’t I.”

“Probably a good idea. I’m going to take a shower.” Sehun turned the water on as cold as he could stand it and rinsed all the sweat and dirt out of his hair. The bracelets clanged together when he reached up to run his fingers through his hair. It wasn’t until Minseok had pointed them out as strange that Sehun had started noticing them again. Then again, he rarely spent time with anyone who didn’t know what they were for.

He was still standing in the bathroom, towel around his waist, rubbing the bracelets, when Jongin came in. He saw his partner curled in on himself, tracing the lines of runes that kept him safe, kept him from bleeding for everyone else. Jongin wrapped his arms around Sehun’s damp back, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck.

“You are so, so special, my Sehun.” He crooned into his ear. “My beautiful, brave Sehun.”

Sehun let himself be held and rocked back and forth, even though it didn’t do much to soothe him. It was hard to die and be dragged back. Sometimes he still had nightmares of being unable to breathe, of his heart stopping. Of the monster that they had rescued Junmyeon from.

“If we don’t leave soon, Junmyeon will have a fit.” Sehun murmured finally. Jongin released him, but stayed close as Sehun rummaged through the closet to find some clothes. The night was cool, so he layered a thin cardigan over his t-shirt. Jongin drove, recognizing that Sehun was lost somewhere in his head and shouldn’t be behind the wheel.

When they arrived, Junmyeon was chopping vegetables in the kitchen for a salad. Sehun smelled the air and immediately salivated.

“You made lasagna?” He asked, turning on the oven light so he could see in.

“I figured it would be enough to feed everyone but not super formal.” Junmyeon’s hands had stopped shaking, but the damage to some of the nerves in his hands had made them a little stiff. He set down the knife and rubbed his aching hands, trying to stretch them. Jongdae happened to come into the kitchen just in time to see it, and shooed Junmyeon out with Sehun and Jongin.

Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Heechul were sitting in the living room with Kris and Yixing. Sehun could tell just looking at Chanyeol that he was not happy about Heechul’s presence. He kept picking at his fingernails, eyebrows furrowed into a line. Baekhyun called Jongin over to introduce him to Heechul.

Junmyeon was the only one who noticed Sehun rotating his bracelets to find the tiny latches that opened them. Everyone’s emotions came flooding in all at once, nearly knocking him off balance.

“That’s a bad idea.” Junmyeon muttered as Sehun slipped his bracelets in his pocket.

“I need to read something.” Sehun muttered back, trying to separate the sticky threads of emotions to isolate the ones he wanted. Some things were familiar: Yixing tasted like green tea on his tongue; Kris smelled like fresh cut wood, Chanyeol of acrylic paint. It was the unfamiliar one that he was trying to find as Junmyeon guided him over to one of the poufs they’d invested in when they rearranged the furniture. Sehun knew his feet were placed over the remains of the pentacle, hidden under the rug.

Heechul tasted like milk candy, undercut with something sharp and iron. Sehun watched as Heechul patted Baekhyun on the knee affectionately; Chanyeol’s irritation flooded over him. Junmyeon started asking about how Baekhyun and Heechul knew each other, which gave Sehun the spare time to flex his weakened muscles and try to find Baekhyun’s emotions in everything.

Baekhyun tasted like blue. Sehun felt his nervousness, his affection for Heechul, but little else. Chanyeol was quickly growing more and more irritable. Sehun stood up abruptly, startling everyone in the room.

“Channie, come get a beer with me.” Sehun said, gesturing for Chanyeol. Slowly, the older man unfolded his long limbs from the couch and followed Sehun into the kitchen. Jongdae had finished the salad and had moved on to washing some dishes, singing softly to the radio that was playing. Sehun reached into the fridge and found a couple beers. Chanyeol, like any well prepared young man, had a bottle opener on his keys and opened the bottles for them.

“I don’t like that guy.” Chanyeol muttered into his beer.

“I kind of sensed that.” Sehun snorted.

“Baekhyun had never even told me about him and then they’re all touchy feely.” Chanyeol’s acrylic smell flooded Sehun’s nose. “I don’t get it. I grew up in the same town as Baekhyun, and I never heard about him.”

“I didn’t think Baek liked talking about your hometown.”

“He doesn’t, but he doesn’t seem to be having a problem with Heechul.” Chanyeol spat his name out like something nasty.

Sehun set his beer down on the counter and pulled the bracelets from his pocket. It took Chanyeol a moment to recognize them, and his eyes widened.

“Why aren’t you wearing them?” He asked worriedly.

“I’m trying to get a reading on Heechul.” Sehun said simply.

“Have you gotten anything yet?”

“It’s hard with so many people around. He tastes like milk candy and iron. Can’t tell what the iron is from.”

“He was in a pretty bad car wreck a couple years ago apparently. He’s got iron rods in his leg.”

“Mm.” Sehun put his bracelets back in his pocket and picked up the beer again. “I’ll see what I can find, Channie. But you know Baekhyun loves you.”

“It’s not the fact that Baekhyun loves me that I doubt. It’s that Baekhyun isn’t in love with Heechul too that bothers me.” If the look in Chanyeol’s eyes hadn’t broken Sehun’s heart, the wave of crushing anxiety and sadness that hit him would have done it. Sehun remembered why he wore his bracelets every day.

The noise only got worse when the rest of the family arrived for dinner. Sehun realized he was downing beer faster than usual to try to dull the noise, to the point that Luhan pulled him aside when he excused himself to the bathroom.

“Hunnie, you need to slow down.” Luhan warned, a protective hand on Sehun’s arm.

“It’s not my fault.” Sehun mumbled, pushing his face into Luhan’s chest. “I took the bracelets off.”

“Why the hell did you do that? Put them back on!”

“No, I need to see if Heechul is in love with Baekhyun.”

Luhan let out a soft sigh. “Sehun, that’s not your problem to deal with.”

“I need to know. For Chanyeol.”

“Well if you’re not wearing your bracelets, then you can feel this.” Luhan’s arms tightened around him and Sehun was flooded with the smell of fresh coffee and the taste of a spring day. It was what Luhan’s love reminded him of.  “Let’s go before Junnie gets worried.”

Even with the sea of beer washing around in his stomach, Sehun was finally able to isolate Heechul and Baekhyun’s emotions by simply sitting in between them. Heechul’s leg hurt, and he was a little uncomfortable with so many people looking at him. Baekhyun was focused on Chanyeol and he could feel that relationship, but there was still something tethering him to Heechul.

Sehun decided to lie to Chanyeol.

\--

Amber and Krystal arrived at the booth looking very much like two witches out for a walk. Amber was wearing a huge black hat to block the sun; Krystal carried a lace umbrella to shade her. Sehun grinned when he saw them approaching the booth and leaned over the table to hug them.

“How’s the festival going for you two?” Amber asked, watching Minseok guzzling water.

“It’s hot and we’re melting a little, but the business is pretty good so far.” Sehun shrugged. “Same festival, different year.”

“You’re such a little ray of sunshine.” Amber laughed, pinching his cheek. “Who’s the guy in the full suit wandering around with Baekhyun and Chanyeol?”

“Heechul. He’s an old friend of Baekhyun’s.”

“He looks like he needs that cane a lot more than he’s using it for.”

“Probably. I haven’t seen them yet.” Sehun shifted and the bracelets moved up towards his elbows.

“Those still working for you?”

“They’re perfect.” After last night, Sehun was very glad to have them. It had been a mistake to take them off and then to drink on top of it. His head still hurt.

“Good. What time do Baekhyun and Chanyeol go on?”

“I’m not sure. Min?” Sehun asked, getting his boss’s attention. “When do Baek and Channie go on?”

“I think one of them put it in the group text.” Minseok scrolled through his phone. “Aha! They go on at 8:30.”

“Is he still using that charm I made for him?” Amber asked Sehun softly. After the ordeal of the exorcism, Baekhyun had been more fragile than ever. Amber had made him a charm to keep him calm and promote bravery.

“I think he is. Probably the only reason he agreed to perform this year.” Sehun had known Baekhyun had a beautiful voice since they met, but he’d always been terrified of audiences. How Chanyeol had convinced him to perform at the festival was beyond him. Sehun was surprised Junmyeon hadn’t had commemorative t-shirts made for the occasion.

“Well, hopefully we’ll see you later.” Amber gave him a kiss on his forehead and she and Krystal walked off, hand in hand.

“This day is so long.” Sehun groaned, grabbing a bottle of water from the cooler under the table.

“It is, but we always do well during the festival. If you want those vacation days, we gotta sell a lot.” Minseok bumped him gently with his hip. “Besides, tonight are the performances and those are all sitting, and then we get to go watch the fireworks from your house.”

“True.” Sehun wiped his face with the hem of his shirt. “Do you think if I took this off we’d get more customers?”

“No, I think you’d scare the elderly away.” Minseok ducked when Sehun swatted at him. “Hey, just being honest!”

The others stopped by the booth throughout the day. Heechul showed up by himself and perused their goods, finally settling on a few rings. He paid in cash, in big bills. As he waited for his change, he leaned heavily on his cane, enough that Sehun was worried he would fall over.

“Heechul, do you need to sit down?” Sehun asked, noticing the white knuckled grip Heechul had on his cane.

“I-” Heechul started, then sighed. “Why am I trying to be brave? Yes, I would love to sit down.” Sehun set up one of their folding chairs for him and he sank into it heavily.

“Chanyeol told me you were in a car wreck.”

Heechul nodded. “A few years ago. My leg was almost completely shattered.” He looked up at Sehun with large, perceptive eyes. “Chanyeol doesn’t like me.”

Minseok’s intrusion to hand over his change and boxed purchases gave Sehun a minute to think of something diplomatic to say. “Chanyeol is very protective of Baekhyun.”

“I sensed that as well. And he has good reason to be protective of Baekhyun. I’ve known him since he was a teenager and he’s always been this fragile. It’s about time someone was willing to step up and protect him.”

“You mean you didn’t protect him?” The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them; he immediately wanted to rip his tongue out. Sehun could feel the heat of Minseok’s glare between his shoulder blades.

Heechul looked at him for a moment, head cocked to the side. “You really don’t know anything about me, do you?”

“None of us do.” Sehun glanced back at Minseok, busy helping a customer. “We have suspicions, but we don’t know.”

Heechul rested his hands on the top of his cane, chin propped on top of them. “It’s a long story, and one you should hear from Baekhyun at a different time. But I won’t be here much longer. I came for the festival performance; I’ll be leaving in the morning.”

“Just…” Sehun sighed and gave up on diplomacy. “Don’t wreck Chanyeol and Baekhyun. They’ve got a good thing and I don’t want to see anything screw that up.”

“Not my intention.” Heechul heaved himself to his feet. “Thank you for the chair. I’ll see you at the performance tonight.” With that, he headed off down the aisle of booths.

“What the fuck is the matter with you?” Minseok asked, smacking Sehun on the back of the head. “I thought you had more tact than that!”

“I didn’t want to beat around the bush. No real point in it.” Sehun shrugged. “He’s leaving tomorrow anyway, not like he’ll be around to be offended for a while.”

Kris came back to help them break down the booth and load up the unsold inventory to take back to the shop in his truck. Junmyeon and Yixing were already with Chanyeol and Baekhyun; Jongin and Kyungsoo had been instructed to save a whole row of seats.

“So did you guys have a good day?” Kris asked, starting the truck up with a rumble.

“We did very well. Luhan and I are going to be able to take that trip next week.” Minseok practically rubbed his hands together with glee. Luhan and Minseok had been talking about adopting since their first anniversary; next week they were supposed to go out to an orphanage and meet some of the kids. Sehun just hoped it wouldn’t go like that time Tao went to adopt one dog and ended up with three.

Sehun’s legs felt like jelly so he stayed in the truck while Kris and Minseok took the few boxes and the money case back upstairs. He was nervous for Baekhyun and Chanyeol, if only because he knew how badly it would hurt Baekhyun if he choked up on stage. He just had to have faith that they’d be okay.

Once Kris and Minseok came back, they headed off to the amphitheater where the performances were taking place. There was still about half an hour before the performances started; Baekhyun had wanted to go early in the show so he couldn’t stew over his nerves the whole time.

By the time they got there, the majority of their row had filled in. Heechul was talking to Amber and Krystal at the very end of the row. Sehun settled into the spot Jongin had saved for him, leaning his head back against the seat.

“Tired, baby?” Jongin asked, smoothing Sehun’s hair away from his face.

“Very long day.” Sehun mumbled, eyes closed. Jongin lifted the arm rest between them and pulled Sehun closer to him so he could lean on his shoulder.

“Get a room.” Tao muttered. Sehun shot him a glare.

“Taozi, when are you going to get a girlfriend?” Sehun asked.

“When someone comes along that can deal with you dipshits.” Tao shot back.

“Hush, all of you.” Junmyeon said, leaning across three or four people to look at them. “The performances are about to start.”

The curtain went up and a spotlight turned on, revealing a kneeling figure dressed in black. As he slowly rose, Sehun could see he was dressed in all black, with black ribbons hanging from his arms and shoulders, and a black lace mask across the top of his face.

The instrumental he was dancing to broke Sehun’s heart. It sounded like loss and longing and pain. He couldn’t take his eyes off the dancer though; he whirled like a dervish, the ribbons flying out from him as he threw his whole body into the dance. Sehun didn’t think he’d ever seen anything like it. At the crescendo, he took a flying leap, spinning in midair like a top. It made the ribbons flutter around him in the most beautiful way. When he finished, Sehun’s whole row stood up to applaud him.

They were close enough that they could see the dancer’s chest rising and falling heavily, the smile on his face. And when he removed the black lace wrapped around the top of his face, they were close enough to see his features lit under the spotlight.

Jongin’s hand clamped around Sehun’s wrist, digging in almost painfully. Sehun barely noticed he was so stunned himself. Tao tugged on Sehun’s shirt to make him sit down as the dancer walked off stage.

“Was that?” Jongin whispered into Sehun’s ear.

“I don’t know.” Sehun murmured back. He barely paid attention to the next few acts that came up and left, until Tao elbowed him in the ribs and pointed out Baekhyun and Chanyeol.

Baekhyun looked absolutely terrified, practically curled over himself on his stool, a microphone held between shaking fingers. Chanyeol looked slightly more at ease, a guitar balanced on his lap as he adjusted the microphone on the stand in front of him.

Sehun saw movement out of the corner of his eye and tracked the rose as it flew over the rows of seats and landed on the edge of the stage in front of Baekhyun. Heechul was still standing, leaning on his cane after lobbing the rose. Baekhyun smiled slightly, looked at Chanyeol, and off they went.

Baekhyun’s voice was high and sweet, Chanyeol’s pitched much lower. Their voices meshed together beautifully, the guitar weaving through them and tying them together. The entire amphitheater erupted when they finished, applauding and roaring for them. They were definitely drowned out by the row near the front, where Heechul was hollering and Junmyeon was dancing like a proud mother and Kris was shouting something in Mandarin.

Baekhyun looked like he was crying, but Chanyeol was laughing, eyes alight and holding his boyfriend to him. Just as the spotlight over them faded, Baekhyun stretched up and kissed him on the mouth.

They stuck around until intermission and then abandoned their seats quickly, going to the back of the amphitheater where Chanyeol and Baekhyun had agreed to meet them. The crush of bodies that enveloped the couple was incredible, but there was so much love in them that they couldn’t help it. Chanyeol didn’t even seem to mind Heechul’s presence anymore and thanked him for throwing the rose. Sehun turned to say something to Jongin and realized he was staring off to the left. Sehun followed his eyes, to the dancer, dressed now in a plain black t-shirt and black jeans, a pair of scuffed high tops on his feet. He was talking happily to an elderly man that Sehun guessed was his grandfather.

Sehun watched as Jongin squared his shoulders and marched up to the dancer, who turned at the advancing footsteps. And Sehun watched as the dancer’s face drained of color in recognition. Ice surrounded Sehun’s heart. They weren’t wrong. He trailed up to the group, every step making his feet feel heavier.

“…I feel like I know you from somewhere.” The dancer was saying, brushing his black hair out of his eyes. Sehun guessed he was what Taemin had looked like when he was younger, before he’d starting bleaching his hair.

“I think we do know each other.” Jongin said, extending a hand. “Jongin Kim.”

“I’m Taemin Lee, and this is my grandfather, Jinki Lee.” Taemin looked over Jongin’s shoulder at Sehun. “You. I know you.”

Sehun tried not to cry. “I know you. My name is Sehun Oh.” He shook Taemin’s hand, then his grandfather’s.

“Taemin, are you sure you know them?” Jinki asked. He didn’t look a lot like Taemin, but there was a certain sweetness around the eyes they had in common.

“I do. Somehow.” Taemin’s eyebrows furrowed. “Maybe from school?”

“It’s a….a long story.” Jongin said. Behind them, Junmyeon called for them. “We have to go, but here.” Jongin pulled a receipt from his pocket and scribbled his phone number across it. Taemin took it and stuck it in his pocket. Sehun and Jongin excused themselves. Jongin seemed to be lost in his own world; Sehun took the opportunity to plaster himself to Jongdae. Everyone was getting into their cars to go hang out at Jongin and Sehun’s house before the fireworks. Sehun rode with Minseok and Kris again, leaving Jongin to chauffeur some of the others.

When they got home, Sehun found the bottle of liquor he kept for emergencies and dumped a healthy amount into a mug, disguising it with some tea. Amber caught him putting it back under the sink, having followed him inside instead of staying on the porch with everyone else. Her eyes were soft as she looked at Sehun.

“Is it possible?” He asked finally, after several long glugs of the whiskey.

“Spirits have been known to be recycled, especially early deaths.” Amber said carefully.

“But he only moved on last year.”

Amber leaned against the counter, crossing her tattooed arms over her chest. “When someone dies with unfinished business, it’s like their spirit fragments. Part of it stays behind like an imprint, unable to deal with the death or whatever they didn’t do in their lifetime. The rest of it passes on and gets recycled.”

“So that is Taemin. The Taemin who lived in this house, that we sent to the other side.”

“It’s a part of that Taemin. He’s lived a completely different life than the one you knew, but he recognizes you and knows you because he is that Taemin.”

Sehun covered his eyes with his hand, feeling a headache brewing at his temples. “So my ghost friend is alive and is both not my friend and my friend at the same time.”

“That’s about the size of it.” Amber clucked softly. “Sehun, come here.” She enveloped him in a tight hug. Sehun tried not to cry on her shoulder.

Outside, Heechul was sitting on one of the beach blankets, watching Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Junmyeon talking above him. Every now and then, Chanyeol’s eyes would drift down to Heechul, to the point where he picked up his cane and whacked Baekhyun in the shin with it.

“Ow! Heechul, what the hell?” Baekhyun yelped, hopping away from him.

“Didn’t you tell me you wanted to go on a walk?” Heechul made a face at him when Baekhyun looked confused. “There’s a nice stretch of beach down here, you wanted to take a walk?”

Comprehension dawned over Baekhyun’s face. “Oh! Oh, yeah. Channie, come on.” Baekhyun grabbed his boyfriend’s hand, practically hauling him away. Junmyeon watched them go, then sank down to sit next to Heechul.

“If you hurt any of my boys, I will shatter the other leg.” Junmyeon said in a perfectly even voice. His expression hadn’t changed at all, eerily calm but unwavering.

Heechul chose his words carefully. “It’s not my intent to hurt any of them. I didn’t come here to hurt any of them. I expected…I expected something other than I found, I suppose.”

“And what was that?”

“That is for Baekhyun to tell you, not me.”

\--

“So, you want to tell me what the hitting was for?” Chanyeol asked as Baekhyun dragged him down the beach.

“Heechul was reminding me that I needed to talk to you.” Baekhyun kept pulling until they were well out of earshot of the cottage. When they finally stopped, Baekhyun seemed to fold in on himself slightly. “You love me, no matter what, right?”

“No matter what, Hyunnie.” Chanyeol braced himself for the worst.

Baekhyun had to sit them both down on the sand and take several deep breaths before he could begin. “I met Heechul while I was in high school, before I met you. He did some stuff for the school, computer programs and things like that. He saw me a lot, and then he saw me all bruised and cut up when my dad beat me up. He practically cornered me that day and forced me to go to an urgent care with him. They patched me up a little and he paid for the whole thing.”

He stopped to take another deep breath. “He was 26 when we met. I was 17. And I loved him. He took good care of me. He was my safe haven when I needed a place to stay for the night, he patched me up and made sure I could go to school and get my grades so I could get out of that town. He loved me too.”

“Did you have sex with him?” Chanyeol’s head was spinning with all this information.

“Yes. I loved him. I lived with him for a little while, and then I met you.” Baekhyun started to cry. “God, when I met you, I fell in love with you so fast. And Heechul let me go. He gave me a bunch of money to hold us over when we left and he let me go. I haven’t seen him since then. But he always wanted me to be a singer and when we signed up for the festival-”

“You invited him, because he needed to see you sing.” Chanyeol filled in. Baekhyun nodded, arms locked tight around his knees.

“Do you hate me?” He asked in a watery voice.

“I could never hate you, Baekhyun. I hate that I didn’t know. I’ve been nasty to him all weekend because I thought he was going to take you from me.”

Baekhyun shook his head vehemently. “No, no. Heechul thought you knew who he was, that’s why he’s been so comfortable and affectionate with me. He would never try to split us up, not after all this time and what he did for us at the beginning.”

Chanyeol lifted him up and settled him into his lap, wrapping his arms around him like that would be enough to protect his beautiful, fragile Baekhyun from the world. “I love you, no matter what.”

“I love you too.” Baekhyun cried a little longer and then started to shiver a little. They walked back to the lights of the cottage; Baekhyun went to the car to grab his sweater, while Chanyeol crouched next to Heechul.

“Can I talk to you, inside?” Chanyeol asked. Heechul nodded and Chanyeol helped him get to his feet. He was leaning heavily on the cane, the result of a day of standing and walking. They walked inside and Chanyeol sat him down on the worn out couch.

“I take it Baekhyun finally told you?” Heechul said, stretching his aching leg out in front of him.

“He did.” Chanyeol bit his lip. “I’m so, so sorry Heechul.”

“For what?”

“For being so awful to you this whole weekend. I thought you were trying to Baekhyun away from me.”

Heechul looked at him with a level stare. “When I met Baekhyun, he was skinny as a gutter rat and scarred all over from the beatings. He wanted to get out, to be a singer, to be free. And I fell in love with him. But as much as I loved him, when he met you and he wanted to go with you, I knew that was best for him. And seeing him now, how happy he is and the family that he has now, I know that was the right choice.” Heechul chuckled. “I haven’t told him I’m engaged yet. I was planning on surprising him and asking him to be a groomsman before I left.”

Chanyeol just stared at him. “You couldn’t have led in with that? That would have saved me a shit ton of stress, dude. I thought you were the sugar daddy of Christmas past coming to take him away.”

Heechul laughed, long and loud. “I guess I was his sugar daddy. But Baekhyun is happy, and I’m happy, and I finally got to watch him sing onstage.”

“That took a lot of convincing.”

“I bet it did.” Heechul laughed and Chanyeol finally felt the pressure in his chest ease a little.

“So, friends?”

“Friends.” Heechul patted him on the knee. “And tomorrow, let’s make sure Baekhyun doesn’t pass out when I tell him he’s a groomsmen.”

“That might be a little much to ask.” They were still cackling together when Baekhyun came inside. His face lit up when he saw the two of them sitting together and laughing.

“Seeing the two of you like this makes me so happy.” Baekhyun said, covering his face with his sweater paws; the hoodie was one of Chanyeol’s and practically swallowed him whole.

“And seeing you two on stage made me so happy.” Heechul poked Baekhyun in the shin with his cane. “Now come on, the fireworks should be starting soon.” Baekhyun helped him off the couch; Chanyeol grabbed the afghan off the back of the couch as an afterthought and spread it over Heechul’s legs when he had settled on the beach blanket again. Baekhyun beamed, and Chanyeol fell in love with him all over again.

\--

“Junmyeon, if you don’t breathe you’re going to pass out.” Sehun said. “Were you this bad at quizzes in school?”

“Yes, and shut up.” Junmyeon muttered, looking over the list again. He finally made his choices and handed the page to Sehun.

He scanned it quickly, noting the ones that were circled. “I wouldn’t add balsam fir to the mix, but otherwise you’ve got your basic exorcism ingredients. Well done.”

“Oh thank God.” Junmyeon leaned back against his couch, covering his face with his hands. “Kris was quizzing me all last night and I couldn’t get it together.”

“Well, you’ve got it now.” Sehun stretched, feeling the weariness in his body. He hadn’t been sleeping well, not since the arts festival. Ever since Taemin had re-entered their lives, Jongin had become distant. He wasn’t ignoring Sehun, but he wasn’t paying attention. Sehun had spent the night at Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s apartment one night and Jongin didn’t seem to notice that he hadn’t come home.

“Tea and lemon cake?” Junmyeon asked, noticing the look on his youngest boy’s face. Something had been bothering him for the past week and he hadn’t managed to wrangle it out of him yet.

“Sounds good to me.” They were about to get up when Junmyeon’s phone started ringing on the coffee table.

“It’s Minho.” Junmyeon said, surprise coloring his voice. He hadn’t heard from Minho since the exorcism, probably for good reason. That must have been some traumatic shit to go through. He clicked accept and held the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

Sehun went into the kitchen to put the kettle on for tea, mind still on Jongin and the not-Taemin Taemin. Junmyeon came up behind him and startled him.

“Minho wants to talk to you.” Junmyeon said, handing the phone over. Sehun peered at him curiously, but picked up anyway.

“Minho?” Sehun said.

“Hi Sehun. I’m sorry to bother you but I didn’t know anyone else who might be able to help with this kind of thing. My friend lives in the old Ward house mansion and he’s been noticing some weird stuff happening around the house. Seemed kind of like a haunting, but he doesn’t believe in that sort of thing. I was hoping you could come check out the house, see if something’s really going on or if I’m just being paranoid.”

“If your friend doesn’t believe in hauntings, what makes you think he’ll let me into the house?”

“I’ll bring you. When we’re inside you can poke around a bit, see if you can sense anything.”

Sehun blew out a long breath, pushing his hair back. “I guess? When did you want to do this?”

“If you’re not busy tomorrow, I could take you then.” Minseok and Luhan had left for their trip already, opening Sehun’s schedule completely.

“Yeah, tomorrow works for me.” They arranged for Sehun to meet him at his house and then drive over to the mansion. Sehun hung up and handed the phone back to Junmyeon. “If I die again, this is on your head.” Immediately he regretted saying that because Junmyeon teared up. “I’m sorry, sorry, bad taste.”

“Very bad taste, Sehun.” Junmyeon muttered. “I wouldn’t even have let Minho talk to you if he didn’t sound so worried.”

“Well, it can’t hurt to go look at the place. It’s such an old house it could just be old house shit happening, not haunting stuff.”

“Let’s hope you’re right.”

\--

Sehun didn’t know what to wear. He didn’t want to be overly formal, but going in just a t-shirt and jeans seemed too casual. He would have asked Jongin, but he was glued to his composing program, rushing to meet a deadline. Finally Sehun settled on the fluffy sweater Junmyeon had given out for birthdays a few years before; his was forest green and he looked fairly put together with black jeans and black boots.

Just an experiment, Sehun walked past Jongin with his duffel bag of herbs and supplies without saying a word. Jongin didn’t even look up as he went out the door. Sehun would have brewed on it if he’d given himself time to think about it. He was trying his best to pretend that none of this was happening.

Minho was waiting in front of his apartment building when Sehun pulled up. He directed Sehun where to park and then shook his hand firmly when Sehun got out.

“Thank you for coming.” Minho said, his fatherly eyebrows furrowed together in a line. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but I didn’t know who else to call.”

“It’s my specialty.” Sehun smiled weakly. “Shall we go?”

“Yeah, you can put the bag in the trunk.” Minho popped it for him before getting in the driver’s seat.

“So what’s your friend’s name?” Sehun asked as they pulled out of the driveway.

“Kibum. He’s a fashion designer, that’s why he moved out to the Ward mansion, so he could have inspiration from the nature or something like that.” Sehun made a non-committal noise, and they fell silent. Finally Minho asked, “How are you doing? I mean…after everything that happened with Junmyeon.”

“You mean what is it like to die and then come back?” Sehun didn’t have to be so brutal, but he didn’t have the energy for politeness.

“I guess. That whole thing must have been traumatic for you and Junmyeon.”

“It wasn’t easy. We were both injured. Took weeks for Junmyeon to be able to walk normally.”

“I meant more of the emotional trauma.”

Sehun glanced over at him, the calm, caring face, the collared shirt under his sweater. “Are you a therapist?”

Minho’s face cracked. “Guilty.”

“I figured.”

“I worried. The things I saw, the things that you must have seen. I wanted to check on all of you, I just didn’t know how.”

“Because you’re Junmyeon’s ex-boyfriend.”

Minho nodded slowly. “Kris and Yixing don’t like me around Junmyeon, which I understand to an extent. And I couldn’t have treated Junmyeon, not with how close we were. But I worried about him, and about you, and Luhan and Minseok and the others.”

“We’re doing okay. We’re a strong family, we’re holding it together.” Sehun wished the lie didn’t taste so bitter in his mouth. Yeah, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were no longer at risk of fighting over Heechul, and Junmyeon was functional, but they had been so much better, so much stronger. They were fracturing.

Minho didn’t press the issue and let the rest of the ride pass in silence. The old Ward mansion had once had orange groves and been a manufacturing site for fancy marmalade, but the family had moved away ages ago. Sehun hadn’t even thought anyone was living there, let alone a fashion designer. But it made sense to him that there would be hauntings. The place was so old and so many people had passed through it.

Sehun stood outside the house for a minute, looking at the structure itself. It was a big Victorian style mansion, relatively well maintained but still gloomy and spooky looking. Sehun shivered, but he didn’t know if he was cold or he was picking up spiritual energy. Either way, he needed to go inside. Minho was waiting for him on the porch, watching him examine the house.

The door had hardly opened when Sehun felt it. There was something in the house, more than one something. Minho noticed his wince but covered it up by noisily greeting Kibum. The two of them hugged before Minho moved aside to introduce Sehun.

Kibum was almost as tall as Sehun, but seemed more delicate, more fine-boned. His cheekbones were sharp, long bangs falling into soft, dark eyes. Sehun thought he looked more like a doll than a man.

“Sehun Oh, this is Kibum Kim.” Minho was saying. Sehun shook his hand, trying to gauge how receptive Kibum was to him. At the moment, it seemed like he was barely tolerating his presence. “Key, this is the guy I was telling you about.”

“The psychic.” Kibum pursed his lips.

“Yeah. Are you going to let us in or are we going to stand here in the cold all day?” Minho nudged Kibum aside and let Sehun in, closing the door behind them. The front parlor was dark cherry hardwood, a chandelier hanging high above them from the cathedral ceiling. Sehun felt like a small bead rattling around in a big box. Kibum led them to what must have been the den, and where he had probably been sitting before they arrived. Several sketchpads littered the table, a half-empty coffee mug sitting off to the side on a coaster. The fire was starting to burn down in the fireplace and Kibum went to stoke it and add another log.

“You don’t go in for this kind of thing, but you let me in anyway.” Sehun commented, watching Kibum move around. He was dressed in tight jeans and a dark plaid pullover, the kind of thing Sehun assumed fashion designers wore at home. Kibum turned around, the long silver earring in his right ear swinging.

“Minho told me about the exorcism he attended.” Kibum shook his head. “I don’t believe in ghosts, or possessions, or whatever it is you do. But something is going on in this house and Minho is convinced that it’s something supernatural.”

“My expertise is with haunted objects, so I may be able to help you. Can you tell me what’s been going on?” Sehun knew if he took off his bracelets he’d probably be able to sense it on his own, but he didn’t really want to get slammed with spiritual energy in front of people he didn’t know.

Kibum scrubbed his hand over his face. “It started about a month ago. Weird noises in the middle of the night, things not being where I left them the night before, cracked glass in the bathrooms. Then I started finding dirt tracked in when all the doors and windows are locked. A weird black slime came up from one of the sinks. I found a noose hanging from my chandelier last week. And I’ve been hearing a baby crying but it’s probably some wild animal outside.”

Sehun just stared at him for a moment, bewildered. “Are you telling me you found a _noose_ in your house and you didn’t run for the hills? Or call the police?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “I did call the police. But there was no sign of forced entry, everything had been locked up, and there’s not really a way to get up to that chandelier without equipment.”

“Dude.” Sehun shook his head, leaning back against the couch. “You’ve got yourself a grade-A haunting here. We’re talking DEFCON 1.”

“There must be some other explanation. This house is old, maybe someone found a secret way in and is trying to screw with me.” Kibum gnawed on his lip.

“You keep money in the house, right? Other valuables? Have you noticed anything missing?”

“No, just…moved.”

“Then you have a ghost, not a person. And if my first impression is anything to go off of, you’ve got more than one in here.”

Minho raised his eyebrows. “There can be more than one?”

“A place as old as this, you expect it.” Sehun stood up, moving around the room to see if he sensed anything in one place more than another. To Kibum, it looked like he was wandering around like a TV psychic. He caught Kibum glancing at Minho with his mouth set in a line, clearly unhappy. “Look, I know you don’t believe me but this is some bad shit.” Inspiration struck and he turned to Minho. “Can you grab the duffel bag out of the trunk?”

He nodded and went outside, leaving Kibum and Sehun alone together. The designer looked like he would very much like Sehun to go away; Sehun was worried the roof was going to collapse in on them.

Minho returned with the bag and Sehun knelt over it, digging out the supplies he needed. Kibum yelped when Sehun started drawing the pentacle on his hardwood floors. “It’s just chalk. Chill.” He muttered, continuing to draw it around himself. Then he found the right herbs and oils he wanted, collecting them in the bronze bowl and tossing in some Himalayan salt for good measure. He lit it on fire and Kibum and Minho both visibly reacted when the flame turned green.

“We got one.” Sehun muttered to himself, standing up. “I don’t want to hurt you, I just want to talk to you.”

The fire guttered out behind him and the temperature of the room dropped ten degrees. Sehun held up the bowl of green fire, trying to use it as a lens to spot the ghost. “Please. I just want to talk, to see if I can help you.” Through the flame, he spotted something white moving in the doorway. “Are you over by the door?” Minho and Kibum turned around just in time for the figure to flicker into sight. Both of them screamed. Sehun lowered the flame, looking at the girl. She was young, dressed in old fashioned clothes. Her lips moved, even though no sound came out. Sehun prided himself on being a fairly decent lip reader and he thought he caught what she was saying, just before she disappeared.

“Oh my God. Oh my God, oh my God.” Kibum was muttering, both hands in his hair tugging at it. “Oh my God that was a ghost.”

“Yes it was.” Sehun carefully blew out the flame and stepped out of the pentacle. “And if I’m not mistaken, she said no one could help her. I’m surprised you haven’t seen her before, considering she can materialize.”

“Is she solid?” Kibum seemed absolutely wigged.

“No, she’s not corporeal. But if she’s strong enough to materialize, more likely than not she can move things around.”

Minho rubbed his friend’s back gently, trying to soothe him. “It’s okay, we can take care of this.”

“Can we?” Kibum looked at Sehun with wide eyes.

“We can. It’s going to take some time, but we can.” Sehun felt bad for him; he’d thought he’d call a spirit and talk to it a little, not scare the shit out of Kibum.

Kibum took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and looked at Sehun with sharp eyes. “When can you move in?”

“Move in?” Sehun hadn’t been expecting that.

“I’m not staying here alone and you seem capable of dealing with the issue. When can you move in?” He barreled on when Sehun hesitated. “I’m going to pay you, so don’t worry about taking off work.”

“Fucking hell.” Sehun muttered. “Look, I need to make a phone call, and then we can discuss this.” He stepped out onto the porch and considered his phone for a moment. Junmyeon would be able to advise him on the matter, but really what he wanted was Jongin’s opinion. So he dialed his partner’s number, wondering if he’d even pick up.

“Did you leave the house?” Jongin asked when he finally picked up.

“Yeah, I’m making a supernatural house call.” Sehun sat down on the front steps. “You remember Minho, Junnie’s ex that came to help with the exorcism?”

“Thick eyebrows, looks like someone’s rich hot dad?”

“That’s the one. His friend lives out in the Ward mansion and he’s got some major ghosties going on out here.”

“Do we need to assemble the crew?”

“I don’t know what I’m dealing with yet. There’s definitely a spirit here, and she can appear to other people.”

“So she’s like Taemin. Ghost Taemin, I mean.”

“Yeah.” Sehun’s stomach twisted. “Anyway, the guy wants me to move in to deal with the haunting.”

“Move in? Hunnie, I don’t know if that’s safe.”

“I don’t think so either, but I don’t want to leave him here alone, and Minho doesn’t have the Sight. They could be sitting ducks.”

“So you want to stay?”

“I don’t know, Jongin. Maybe? There’s some serious shit in this house and I don’t want to have blood on my hands because I didn’t take care of it.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” He sounded a little reluctant, even though he’d offered.

“Maybe the first few days I should stay alone, and then when I have a better sense of what’s going on you can join me.” His voice softened. “I don’t want to risk you.”

“I don’t want to risk you either, babe. What about Junmyeon? Can he stay with you?”

“I’m not bringing him here. It’d set him back months.”

Jongin was silent for a moment. “It’s that bad?”

“It could be. Fuck, there was a noose hanging from the chandelier.”

“Sehun, you cannot stay out there.”

“I think I have to.” Sehun sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Look, I’ll come home tonight, and then we can talk it over some more.”

“Okay. Drive carefully.”

“I will.” They hung up and Sehun went back inside. Minho had wrapped Kibum in a blanket; the designer was staring blankly into the rekindled fire. Minho looked up when Sehun came back in.

“Well?” Minho asked softly.

“I need to discuss it more with my partner. I’m going to go home tonight, but tomorrow I’ll come back.” Sehun reached behind his head and undid the clasp of his amulet, winding it around Kibum’s neck instead. He looked at it dully, like he wasn’t sure what he was seeing.

“What is this?” He mumbled, holding the warm amber beads in his hand.

“Amber is for protection. It’ll see you through the night.” Sehun wasn’t sure what made him do it, but he kissed Kibum’s forehead gently. “You’ll be all right, I promise.” Kibum nodded almost robotically.

“I’m going to take Sehun home and then I’ll come right back. Just stay here, drink your coffee.” Minho said. Kibum nodded again, burrowing deeper in his blanket.

Minho drove fast through the winding forest lanes, fast enough that it was clear he made the trip often. “Thank you for coming, Sehun, and for considering staying with him.”

“I can’t leave him alone in that house. He’s blind to the things that go bump in the night. Unfortunately I can see them all.”

Minho looked at him with soft eyes. “It must be a burden on you, having to see everything.”

“It is. But it runs in my family. I’ve been prepared since I was a little kid.” Sehun was glad to get out of the car and get into his own; Minho barely waited for the door to shut before he took off again, back to Kibum.

Jongin was waiting for Sehun when he came home. “Are you out of your mind?” He demanded, wrapping Sehun in a tight hug.

“No, just overly caring.” Sehun hugged him back, trying not to think that this was the first time they’d hugged in days.

“I really don’t think you should go out there.”

“I have to! He’s alone and blind; he’s a sitting duck.”

“And you’re going to be another sitting duck, Sehun.”

“I can see what they can’t, and I know how to deal with it, how to place protections. I might even call Amber in on this, see if we can’t get some protective spells on Kibum.”

“You’re absolutely mental.”

“And you love me for it.”

Jongin looked at him for a moment. “I do. And I must be crazy too.” Sehun wasn’t sure how they ended up on the living room floor with their hands down each other’s pants, but he wasn’t going to complain. He craved the intimacy of it, the trust and knowingness of it, the feeling of Jongin’s skin sliding against his. Pale gold and bronze, like two young gods.

They did make a mess of the afghan Jongin had thrown underneath them, but it wasn’t anything that couldn’t be washed. Jongin took off with it to throw it directly into the washing machine while Sehun wiped down his belly and put his boxers back on. Standing in his living room, Sehun could see a car pulling up to their cottage, could see the dark head inside.

“Oh shit, I forgot Taemin was coming over.” Jongin hurried back into his clothes and flipped the fan on even though it was freezing in the cottage. Sehun just picked up his jeans and sweater and walked away, to curl up in his bed and pretend Taemin hadn’t returned to the cottage, to pretend that he hadn’t seen Jongin’s eyes light up at the sight of him.

\--

The next day, bright and early under a morning drizzle, Sehun and his bags arrived on Kibum’s door step. Jongin had rolled over sleepily before Sehun left and asked if he wanted him to come along; Sehun told him to go back to sleep. After all, he probably needed it; he and Taemin had been up late talking. Jongin had apparently already explained the reincarnation thing to him and they’d been talking about the house and what Taemin could remember when Sehun had gone to sleep.

Sehun felt miserable, but compared to how Kibum looked, Sehun might as well have come from a week at the spa. Kibum’s eyes were bloodshot, circles under his eyes like inky thumbprints. He was dressed in an absolutely massive furry hoodie, jeans, and some ridiculous white shoes that Sehun thought only a fashion designer could wear.

“Thanks for coming.” Kibum said, letting him in. “I appreciate you coming to stay here.”

“I couldn’t exactly leave you here by yourself.” Sehun let him take one of the duffel bags and they hauled them upstairs to the guest bedroom, conveniently located just down the hall from the master bedroom. Sehun put his bag down on the bed before taking his herb kit to Kibum’s room. He watched curiously as Sehun sat on the floor and took out the jars he wanted.

“What are those?” Kibum asked as Sehun pulled the bedskirt up and sprinkled dried yellow flowers under the bed.

“Calendula flowers and marigolds go under the bed to protect you from evil.” Sehun tossed him a packet of red flannel. “Tie this over your bed somewhere.” Kibum tied it to one of the bed posts while Sehun started sprinkling blessed thistle around the room.

“So now that my room smells like potpourri, it’s safe?”

“I figured you didn’t get much sleep last night.” Kibum nodded. “So I made your bed and your room safe for you, so you can get your rest. I’ll do the same for mine in a little bit.”

Kibum looked up at him, one thumbnail in his mouth as he gnawed on it. “And all these herbs are going to keep spirits out?”

“You saw what some herbs did yesterday. It’ll help.” Sehun dusted his hands off. “Do you mind if I poke around the house for a bit? It’ll help if I can tell where the most activity is.”

“Yeah, go ahead.” Kibum ran a hand through his hair, probably to hide the way his hands were trembling.

“It’s best if you try to do your normal routine. Go have some coffee, do some sketching.”

“Normal routine. Right.” Kibum drifted out of the room; Sehun heard him shuffle downstairs. Hopefully he wouldn’t pull his hair out down there.

Sehun used the same herb cocktail on his own room before systematically going through all the rooms of the house. The mansion was pretty big, several bedrooms and bathrooms, a study that looked ill-used, and a solarium. The kitchen and formal dining room looked equally dusty, as did the formal living room. Kibum seemed to spend the majority of his time in his bedroom or in the den.

Sehun didn’t pick up any particular hot spots during his wanderings. It seemed like the entire house, the structure itself, was haunted. That would make it a little more difficult to figure out how to clear the house it. He would probably need Amber and Krystal to help him, but he didn’t want to bother them until he knew what steps to take.

Honestly, as Sehun opened an umbrella to take a look around the grounds, he saw the appeal of living all the way out here in the secluded mansion. The rain and the trees and the smell of the air was incredible. And the quiet was nice too. Sehun had gotten used to the ocean waves outside the cottage, but he liked the silence out here.

His trip out around the grounds must have taken longer than he had thought, because Kibum was waiting for him, shivering, outside the back door.

“Thought maybe the ghost ate you or something.” He said weakly.

“No, I just went to look around. Come on, it’s freezing out here.” Sehun guided them back inside to the den where they both sat in front of the fireplace to dry out a little. Kibum sat with his knees folded up to his chest, staring into the flickering fire blankly. He only looked up when Sehun stretched out his legs and groaned when his knee popped.

“So what do you do?” Kibum asked. “Professional ghost hunter?”

“Not that far off, honestly.” Sehun chuckled. “One of my close friends owns an antique shop. He seems to have a knack for bringing in haunted objects and I end up having to exorcise them. On paper, I’m just a retail assistant, basically. But all of our friends call me the Assistant Manager of Spirits.”

“Your friends all know?”

“After what happened with Junmyeon, yeah. I had to tell them.”

“Minho wasn’t very clear when he told me about that.”

Sehun sighed, leaning back on his hands. “It was very traumatic for everyone who witnessed it, I think. Junmyeon is kind of our mother. We call him Suho, guardian. He was possessed by an evil spirit and we had to go to the astral plane to bring his spirit back to this plane. Then there was the exorcism. I’m not all that clear on the details of that.”

“Why not?”

“I, um, I died.”

“You _died_?”

“An exorcism isn’t exactly a walk in the park. Junmyeon’s body was occupied by the evil spirit, and my body was holding both of our spirits. It overloaded my system, stopped my heart.”

“You were resuscitated?”

“Yeah. By the time I came to, Junmyeon was back in his own body. I’m not sure exactly what it looked like to everyone else. No one really likes talking about it.”

Kibum looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. “Are we going to have to do that here?”

“It’s easy to remove spirits from objects than it is to exorcise a living body. The thing that’s going to be sticky is trying to figure out exactly what spirits we’re dealing with here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we can’t exactly just blast them into oblivion without knowing who they are, if they have unfinished business. Sometimes it’s a confused spirit causing mischief without really knowing what’s happening. I’d hate to send them somewhere they weren’t meant to go.”

“That makes sense.” Kibum rested his chin on his knees. “You really care about this.”

“The Sight runs in my family. For generations we’ve had this gift. I learned the uses of herbs at the same time I learned my letters. I was six when I saw my first haunted object. My grandfather and my father trained me well, and they taught me that this is a gift we have to be careful with. These were people once, and they deserve that kind of dignity.”

“That’s why you told that spirit you just wanted to help.”

“I do. She may be lost, or struggling, caught between here and where she’s supposed to be.”

“Makes sense.” He was silent for a moment. “Aren’t there supposed to be two of you? I remember yesterday you said something about your partner.”

“Oh. Um. My partner as in my boyfriend.”

“Oh.”

“Jongin knows the basics, but he doesn’t have the Sight, so he shouldn’t be working on this with me.” Sehun shifted uncomfortably. “Minho told me you’re a designer?”

“I’m supposed to be working on designs for a new collection right now. I’ve got people breathing down my neck to get it finished.”

“So why not go stay in a hotel or something, just get it done?”

Kibum frowned, like he was trying to come up with the right words. “I need the solitude here. I think best when I’m alone. A hotel would be worse, even with all the weird noises and nooses here.”

“Aren’t you glad I’m here?” It actually made Kibum giggle a little.

“Yes, I’m very glad you’re here, Sehun.” The smile on his face, a little bashful and shy, made Sehun’s stomach do a funny little flip.

Later, he’d recognize this as the exact moment he fucked up.

\--

Kibum managed to return to his normal routine, answering e-mails and ordering fabric swatches and fine-tuning the sketches he had already started. It was hard to keep his focus though when there was a slender, beautiful boy stretched out in front of his fireplace. He’d started with the blueprints of the house and then found a town history book in the study. Sehun was lying on his belly, ankles crossed in the air behind him.

Kibum suddenly wished the kid was really ugly. It just wouldn’t do to pop a boner with a guest in the room. Especially not one who was in a relationship.

Sehun’s phone rang, breaking the spell, and he rolled over onto his back. “Hi Junmyeon.” He made a quick exit, leaving Kibum to put his head between his knees. He was always like this: head first, eyes closed. It had worked pretty well in his designing career, but with relationships, not so much. Minho would tell him he rushed into things and rushed back out because he was afraid of getting hurt.

“How’s everything going?” Junmyeon asked, pots and pans clattering around in the background like he was making something.

“So far no hot spots or strange activity. I’m reading some historical stuff on the town and then I’m going to check the records online, see if anyone was murdered here.” Sehun leaned against the doorframe. “I’m mostly just trying to keep Kibum calm. He’s pretty wigged about the whole thing.”

“I would be too. Are you sure you don’t want someone to come stay with you? Not even Jongin?”

“It’s better if I’m here alone with Kibum, I think.” Sehun heard laughter in the background, not Yixing or Kris. “Do you have company over?”

“Jongin came over, said he was lonely without you. But he brought a friend, so I don’t know what his deal is.”

Sehun’s heart clenched. “Taemin?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Sehun must have made a pained noise in the back of his throat. “Hunnie, what’s the matter?”

“How do they look?”

There was a pause as Junmyeon looked out into the living room. “Like close friends? Sehun, what’s going on?”

Sehun could feel his breath coming in short little gasps. “Do you remember the ghost that lived in Jongin’s cottage?”

“No. No, that’s not this guy. It can’t be. Can it?”

“Amber says it can happen. And-” Sehun took a deep breath, steadying himself against the wall as he started to feel lightheaded. “Ever since he met Taemin again, it’s like all he cares about is Taemin.”

“Hunnie, you know Jongin loves you. It’s obvious to everyone that Jongin loves you.”

“He didn’t even notice I left the house the other day, Junmyeon. He’s losing interest in me because he’s got Taemin alive now.”

There was the sound of a door closing and Sehun figured Junmyeon had shut himself in the pantry. “Jongin was in love with the ghost?”

“I always suspected, but the way he reacted when Taemin reappeared…” Rage swelled in Sehun’s belly like a tidal wave. “He was just waiting for me to leave before he started replacing me with Taemin.” He slammed his fist into the wall angrily.

“Sehun, I’m sure that’s not what’s going on.”

“He brought him to your house, Junmyeon! You and I both know what that means. It’s like taking a boyfriend home to mom and dad.” Sehun’s head spun. “I have to go.” He hung up without saying goodbye, storming back into the living room. He turned the phone on silent and stuffed it into the couch cushions next to Kibum.

“Are you all right?” The designer asked, peering at him over a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. He seemed to use them only when he was sketching. It made him look a little like Minseok.

“Just fucking peachy.” Sehun snapped, angrily pulling the book back onto his lap. Kibum recognized this kind of mood; it was one he fell into often. So rather than ask any more questions, he went to the liquor cabinet and found a clean glass and the bottle of Scotch and set them near Sehun.

The psychic had nearly drained half the bottle by the time their dinner arrived. Kibum ordered out most of the time to avoid setting his kitchen on fire. Sehun didn’t seem to mind, just glowered into his food.

Sehun knew he shouldn’t be jealous. He’d been with Jongin for almost two years and there had never been any acts of unfaithfulness. Jongin had made it clear Sehun was the one for him. _But Taemin is different_ , he thought. Taemin had been with Jongin since he was a little boy, had been with him as a young man. He knew Jongin’s secrets, his dreams, his loves. And if anyone could take Jongin from Sehun, it would be Taemin. Taemin, the beautiful dancer who Jongin had loved in death, and now was alive and young and whole for him. What a fairy tale ending for Jongin, leaving Sehun in the dust as he got his happily ever after.

The abrupt sobbing caught Kibum off guard and he nearly choked on his food. As he was still trying to clear his throat, he tried to wipe Sehun’s face and make comforting noises. This had never been his strong point. Minho was the one who was good at emotional support.

Sehun didn’t want to talk about it, though. He excused himself for the night with the bottle of Scotch and disappeared up to his bedroom. Kibum worked late into the night, feeling a little safer in his house with Sehun around. The protections in his bedroom didn’t hurt, either. There would be no monsters under the bed waiting to snatch his ankle.

The Scotch put Sehun out pretty quickly, which was what he had wanted. He was in a deep, dreamless sleep when he felt something pulling him up, like a buoy pulling him toward the surface. He opened his eyes, bleary with sleep and alcohol, to see the girl in white in his doorway. He scrambled up right, his bare chest exposed when the covers fell away. The girl looked away; if she had blood Sehun thought she would have blushed.

“Do you need my help?” Sehun asked, feeling the thickness of his tongue from the alcohol. She nodded, and held a hand out to him. She hadn’t been able to cross the threshold of his room, meaning the protections were definitely working. Sehun grabbed a sweatshirt from his bag and followed her down the hall. Kibum’s door was shut tight, but it wasn’t his room they were interested in. The girl led him to the room at the end of the hall, a smaller guest room Sehun had guessed belonged to a girl, if only because it was decorated in pink velvet and floral wallpaper.

The girl was standing in front of the antique desk, her white skirts moving in an unseen breeze. Her eyes were sad as she pointed to the desk. Sehun pulled all the drawers open, finding moldering parchment and old pens, but nothing of interest. At least, until he thumped the top of the desk and a hidden compartment slid out from under it, depositing a small leather bound book at his feet.

Sehun picked it up, turning it over in his hands. It was probably a diary, based on its size. He looked up at the girl. “Is this what you wanted me to find?” She nodded, then her eyes caught something and she vanished. Sehun spun around, expecting to see another spirit, but he was alone.

Still, he hurried back to his own room and the safety of the protections. Under the lamplight he could see it was in fact a diary, dating back from the 1860s. It had once belonged to Mary Ward, according to the inscription in the front. Sehun knew he wouldn’t get anything of use out of it that night; he was still drunk, and his limbs felt like lead. So he tucked it away safely in his bag, curled up in the unfamiliar bed, and let the liquor drag him back under.

\--

Kibum crept into Sehun’s room, feeling like the world’s biggest pervert. There was no reason he needed to be tiptoeing around in here while Sehun was sleeping. After all, he was a full grown man and he could take care of himself.

Still, Kibum left a bottle of Gatorade and a few Tylenol on the nightstand. If the mostly empty bottle of Scotch on the desk was any indication, Sehun was going to be in a world of hurt that morning. As he moved to pull the covers back up over Sehun, the psychic began to stir.

“Jongin? What are you doing?” He mumbled softly, tucking his face into the pillow. Jongin. The boyfriend. Right. Kibum turned around and left quickly, hoping a bracing cold shower and a hot cup of coffee would help him pull himself together.

By the time he was out of the shower, Sehun was up and sitting at the kitchen table, head in one hand and a coffee cup in another. The bottle of Gatorade, half empty, was sitting right in front of him.

“There’s coffee in the machine if you want it.” Sehun mumbled when Kibum came into the kitchen.

“Thanks.” Kibum busied himself with fixing his coffee so he could avoid looking at Sehun.

“Thanks for the supplies, by the way. I feel like hell warmed over.” Sehun felt like hell as a frozen dinner, poorly warmed up and still cold in the middle. If he could have put a bullet in his head right then he might have.

“You had a rough night last night.” Kibum sat down, busily checking his phone for emails to avoid eye contact. God, why couldn’t he have had a crush on Minho or something? It would have been much easier than having a crush on the attached psychic.

Sehun snorted. “That’s an understatement.”

“D’you wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.” Sehun pulled the diary from the pocket of his hoodie. “This, however, I do want to talk about. “Our ghost friend led me to this last night. I think she might be Mary Ward.”

“Have you looked in it at all?”

“No, my head still hurts too much. But when the coffee and Advil kick in, I’m going to get started.” The two of them drifted towards the den and the coziness of the room. Sehun curled up on the loveseat and closed his eyes, trying to will the pounding in his head to stop.

“Oh, your phone is still in here.” Kibum held it up, having discovered it between the couch cushions. He tossed it carefully to Sehun.

A missed call from Junmyeon, and one from Jongin. Sehun didn’t really feel like talking to either of them. Instead, he put his head down on the pillow and took a little cat nap. By the time he woke up again, Kibum had stepped out for a video conference and the fire was burning low. Sehun stoked it a few times, threw another log in, and then curled back up under the blanket that Kibum had thoughtfully brought for him.

Mary Ward, daughter of E. Waldo Ward, the grandson of the man who had started the family business. Fancy marmalade sold well in the coastal town apparently and they’d gotten rich fast. Mary wrote about teas, dances, some kind of ball farther inland. Just based on what she recorded in her diary, she seemed to have lived a fairly happy life. He was going to have to call her again and see if he could get some answers out of her.

“Mary? Are you there?” Sehun asked. The empty room seemed to stare back at him. “Is Mary your name? I’m not sure.” She appeared fuzzy at first, then came into sharp focus. “You can’t talk, can you?”

She shook her head. Sehun held up the diary. “Is this yours?” She nodded this time. “And were you honest in it?” She nodded harder, floating up to Sehun. She was corporeal enough to make Sehun flip to the back of the book. There was a lump under the back cover, something hidden inside. “You need me to get whatever this is?” She nodded, and like the night before, seemed to see something Sehun couldn’t and disappeared, just in time to scare the daylights out of Kibum.

“Jesus Christ!” Kibum said, nearly spilling hot coffee on himself. “Can I get a little warning if you’re communing with the spirits?”

“Sorry. It seems like she can’t stay and talk to me for long, like there’s some other presence keeping her from communicating.” Sehun picked at the back cover with his fingernail, then gave up and knelt at his duffel bag for the small knife he kept in the kit.

Kibum wished he had a camera to capture the way Sehun looked at that moment. His profile was backlit by the flickering flames, the lines of his body evident in the thin t-shirt he was wearing. _A work of art_ , Kibum thought. That’s what he felt about Sehun, he admired him like a work of art. It was bullshit, but maybe it would help him in the long run.

Sehun slit the back cover open and a small key fell into his hand. He held it up for Kibum to see. “Looks like we found another clue.”

Kibum took it, turning it over in his hands. “I have the keys for the whole house. None of them look like this.”

“Maybe it belongs to some furniture, or some little passageway we don’t know about. Where did we leave the blueprints?”

“We left them in here. I suspect one of our ghost guests moved it around.” For safe-keeping, Sehun tied the key around his neck with a length of ribbon before following Kibum to look for the blueprints. They found them outside, soaked through completely and useless.

“Someone doesn’t want us looking at them and seeing what the house looks like.” Sehun muttered, picking at the soggy paper idly. “Is there anywhere else that might have these blueprints?”

“City hall maybe?” Kibum shrugged. “These are the set I got when I bought the property.”

“Well, we’re taking a field trip then.” Sehun had stuffed the diary into the duffel bag of herbs, which seemed to be repelling the spirits. Still, they packed their laptops, the diary, and the key into Sehun’s car before they left the house. Sehun didn’t want to come back and find their electronics smashed or out on the lawn because they had pissed somebody off.

Kibum fiddled with the radio while Sehun drove, the rhythmic motion of the windshield wipers adding a layer of sound to the pop station Kibum had settled on. Sehun didn’t mind it. He was barely even hearing the music. He wondered if he stopped by the cottage, Taemin would be there, settling into Sehun’s place without even realizing it. He decided immediately that that was something he couldn’t stomach and drove straight to city hall instead.

Kibum charmed the harried looking receptionist into putting their request ahead of everyone else’s; Sehun suspected he’d even slipped her some money. He wasn’t close enough to hear, having wandered over to sit down on a bench across the lobby. He was trying to think clearly, away from the spirit infestation in Kibum’s house.

What would he do if he came home and it was over? If Jongin had really replaced him? The answer was gut-wrenching devastation, running to Luhan and Minseok for a place to stay while he figured out his life, maybe even leaving the town. But could he really leave his family just because of Jongin?

Yes, yes he could. It would be unbearable to see Jongin and Taemin at family gatherings. Junmyeon wouldn’t cut Jongin off just for breaking up with Sehun. He’d have to suffer seeing the two of them together. No, he’d have to leave.

“Sehun?” Kibum appeared in front of him, eyes worried. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Sehun choked out.

“You’re crying.” Kibum gently ran his thumb under Sehun’s eye, wiping the tears away. “I’ve got the blueprints, let’s go.” Sehun let himself be led out to the cold parking garage and handed over his car keys numbly. Kibum started the car up and turned up the heater, the warm air blasting over Sehun’s numb face.

“I need you to go to 1010 Highland.” Sehun mumbled out. Kibum didn’t ask, just redirected the car in that direction. Only Yixing and Junmyeon’s cars were parked at the house. Sehun let out a sigh of relief.

“Is this your place?” Kibum asked. Sehun shook his head, leading Kibum up the front steps. He rang the doorbell; Junmyeon didn’t take long to answer the door.

“Sehunnie? What’s the matter?” Junmyeon demanded, folding Sehun inside. Kibum trailed behind him awkwardly, shutting the front door. Yixing appeared from the kitchen, a cup of tea in his hands.

“I better make a pot.” He muttered, taking in the scene in front of him. His partner was frantically trying to calm down their youngest adopted child and a very uncomfortable looking stranger was twisting his fingers together, just watching them.

“Yixing? Can you?” Junmyeon looked down helplessly at Sehun, now openly sobbing on his chest. Yixing swept in and collected Sehun, moving him over to the couch and curling him in his lap. Over Sehun’s head, Yixing gestured for the stranger to sit down in the armchair.

In the kitchen, Junmyeon sorted through the neatly labeled jars on the shelf of the pantry they had cleared especially for his herbs. He and Kris had just gone over this, having made a batch of the tea for Baekhyun after a bad panic attack.

“Ylang-ylang, violets, valerian.” Junmyeon muttered to himself. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of the valerian; just a pinch of that, he didn’t want it to be disgusting. Junmyeon dumped the mixture into one of their tea infusers and stuck it in a cup of hot water. The smell was pleasant, meaning he hadn’t added too much valerian.

Yixing had managed to get Sehun’s breathing under control, although the odd tear still trickled out every now and then. Junmyeon got closer and noticed Sehun’s bracelets on the floor, the youngest boy’s hands gripping Yixing’s knees almost painfully. He was taking Yixing’s love and calmness, Junmyeon realized. Careful not to touch him just in case, Junmyeon carefully handed over the mug of tea.

“Um, can I get you anything?” Junmyeon asked Kibum, who was still looking shell-shocked.

“I’m okay. Just…worried.” Kibum gestured vaguely at Sehun, sitting up now and drinking the cup of tea with one hand, still clutching Yixing with the other.

“I’m Junmyeon. That’s my partner Yixing.” Junmyeon shook his hand.

“Kibum. Sehun’s taking care of a ghost problem for me.” Kibum watched as Sehun visibly relaxed, and Yixing leaned down and grabbed two gold bracelets off the floor, carefully clasping them back around Sehun’s wrists.

“Sehunnie, I need you to tell me what’s wrong.” Junmyeon said, sitting on the coffee table in front of him.

“Jongin and Taemin.” Sehun said, clearing his throat. “I need you to watch them.”

“What, like go sit outside Taemin’s house?”

“Junmyeon, you know what I mean.” Sehun’s voice turned harsh. “I can’t be there trying to fight for my relationship. Maybe you could remind Jongin that I exist.”

“Hunnie, Jongin isn’t going to leave you.” Yixing said softly.

“You’re lying, Xingxing.” Sehun shook his head sadly. “Taemin has a hold on him that I don’t. And I’m scared I’m gonna lose him.”

Junmyeon sighed. “I’ll see what I can do. Jongin’s hardheaded, you know he won’t admit to anything.”

“Kris can get through to him probably. Or Luhan.” Yixing suggested.

“Not Luhan, Luhan will take his head off.” Junmyeon reminded him.

“Might be worth it.” Sehun said bitterly, taking another swig of the tea. His eyes fell on Kibum. “Oh, Key, I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right.” Kibum’s eyes were soft with concern. “I want you to be okay. You staying with me is preventing you from being with your partner.”

“You’re living with him?” Yixing’s eyebrows nearly disappeared under his bangs.

“Temporarily. Ghost infestation.” Sehun took a deep breath. “Good work on the tea, Junnie.”

“I figured it would help.” Junmyeon kissed his forehead gently. “Look, why don’t you two stay for lunch and then you can go back to ghost hunting?”

Sehun glanced at Kibum, who nodded. “Okay. We’ll stick around.” Yixing and Junmyeon went back into the kitchen, leaving Sehun and Kibum alone. Sehun gestured for him to come sit on the couch with him.

“Are you all right?” Kibum asked.

“I have a tendency of working myself up and not being able to get back down.” Sehun said carefully. Sometimes he wished the bracelets held his emotions in, instead of blocking others’ out. “I needed Junmyeon.”

“Is he?”

Sehun got up on shaky legs and peeled the rug back, showing Kibum the burned in remains of the pentacle. “We couldn’t get it out of the floorboards.” Sehun pointed off to the left, closer to the sliding glass doors. “I died over there. Luhan and Minseok gave me CPR until my heart started again.”

“They saved your life.”

“More than once.” Sehun looked at the sliding glass door, which had been replaced after Sehun’s impact with it. He looked at the storage shed, where he’d exorcised so many objects and Junmyeon had gotten down on his knees and thanked him for saving his life. Sehun felt old down in his bones.

“There’s three men in all these pictures.” Kibum commented, changing the subject. He pointed at the most recent picture of Kris, Junmyeon, and Yixing. It had been taken on Junmyeon’s birthday. Both Kris and Yixing were smearing cake frosting on his face and Junmyeon was laughing so hard his eyes had turned up into little crescents.

“Junmyeon and Yixing have another partner, Kris.” Sehun waved his hand when Kibum looked confused. “Yeah, there’s three of them. You should see the size of the bed they had to get, Kris is huge. Someone gave him Miracle-Gro as a kid.”

Kibum looked at another picture of the three of them, slightly more formal. “He does kind of look like the Big Friendly Giant.”

Sehun bent over and howled with laughter. Junmyeon didn’t even mind the jabs at his partner as long as Sehun wasn’t sobbing anymore. His poor boy had suffered so much, had taken so much and kept going. Jongin was definitely going to get a piece of his mind.

Kibum was amazed at the hospitality Junmyeon and Yixing extended to him. Sehun, he could understand. He was family; Kibum was just a stranger. But they were so kind, so welcoming to him. Junmyeon practically shoved a second helping of the pasta they’d made down his throat. After lunch, over another round of tea, Kibum explained what was going on in his house and the key that they had found.

“You two shouldn’t be doing this by yourself.” Junmyeon said worriedly. “I don’t want you poking around weird cellars or anything and getting trapped.”

“Anyone without the Sight is a sitting duck.” Sehun reminded him.

“I have the Sight. Might as well put it to good use.” Junmyeon managed to not sound bitter about his heightened abilities. It wasn’t that he had them that was the problem. It was the way he’d gotten them that was the problem. The creature that had tortured him on the astral plane had caused his Sight to grow stronger.

“I’m not taking you into that house, Junnie. You’re not strong enough for it yet.” Sehun checked the time. “Kibum and I should be going if we want to take a look around the house before it gets too dark.”

“Be careful.” Junmyeon warned, seeing them off to the car. Yixing came up behind him, wrapping his arms around Junmyeon’s waist and hooking his chin over his shoulder.

“They’re going to be okay, Junmyeon.” Yixing murmured, planting a kiss behind his ear. “Sehun pulled you out of hell, I think he can handle a few ghosts on this plane.”

“I hope you’re right.” Junmyeon said, closing the front door.

\--

Kibum and Sehun hauled everything straight upstairs to the master bedroom, safe behind the herbal boundaries. At first Sehun wasn’t sure where to sit; he decided he’d been vulnerable enough with Kibum that he could sit on the damn bed with him. They spread the blueprints out between them, looking for anything they didn’t recognize.

Kibum reached into his nightstand drawer and rummaged around in it for the Sharpie he knew was in there. He didn’t know that Sehun could also see into his drawer, could see the bottle of lube and box of condoms hidden inside. Sehun’s ears turned pink at the thought of Kibum having sex. _He’s already so pretty, what must he look like during?_ Sehun thought, before nearly smacking himself across the face. What the fuck was the matter with him? Just because his partner might be unfaithful didn’t mean Sehun could be too.

“Found it!” Kibum leaned back over, Sharpie tucked behind his ear. “I figure we can mark everything we recognize and what we don’t will stand out more clearly.”

Some things were easy: the solarium, the den, the kitchen. They counted off the bedrooms to make sure they knew the right number. It wasn’t until Sehun looked over at the floorplan of the underground floor that he noticed something.

“Do you see this? This door that seems to go into…nowhere?” Sehun circled it with the Sharpie.

“That is definitely weird.” Kibum groaned. “We’re going to have to go underground.”

“Not today. We’re not going anywhere without some serious magical protections.” Sehun checked the time. Krystal should have been home, at the very least. He dialed her number, tapping his foot absently as it rang.

“Sehunnie! How’s it going?” Krystal asked, bubbly and bright as ever.

“It’s…going.” Sehun didn’t know what else to say. “Listen, I hate that I only ever hang out with you and Amber when there’s a problem but-”

“Please tell me no one is possessed.”

“No one’s possessed, we’ve got a ghost infestation. We found a doorway to nowhere and we need some magical backup.”

“Where exactly did you find a doorway to nowhere?” Amber’s voice crackled through the phone. Krystal must have put him on speaker. Sehun did the same, tossing the phone between them.

“I’m at the Ward mansion. Minho, Junnie’s ex? He called me to help out his friend and there’s one spirit I’ve seen but I can feel more.”

“And have you herb-bombed the place?” Amber asked.

“Our bedrooms, yes. The place is massive, we can’t set herbs up without a spirit interfering or something.”

“Are you actually witches?” Kibum asked hesitantly, speaking up for the first time.

“What, you saw the exorcism marks and you didn’t believe they were witches?” Sehun snorted. “That’s Kibum by the way, he’s the owner of the house.”

“Hello Kibum, yes we are witches, and yes we can help you out. In a few days. In the meantime, I suggest making sachets to keep on your person, and trying to contact the other spirits.”

“I’m not sure I want to find the others. The spirit I’ve seen can’t talk.”

“Oh holy fuck.” Amber covered the phone with something and whispered something to Krystal. “Okay, we’ll try and get our business cleared up so we can come sooner. Definitely make those sachets.”

“We’ve also got a mystery key that the spirit wanted me to find. Do you think it’s safe to start poking around for it?”

“The herbal protections should be able to protect you. You still remember your sigils?”

“Of course. Balm of Gilead?”

“Perfect. Kibum?”

“Yes?”

“I’m very sorry about your ghost infestation. We’ll help take care of it.”

“Thanks.” Kibum looked confused.

“All right, we have other stuff to take care of right now. Call me when you know your availabilities.” Sehun hung up hurriedly. “How good are you at sewing, Key?”

Kibum wondered when he’d stopped being Kibum and started being Key, because that was the exact moment he’d developed an overwhelming crush on Sehun. “Fair. I can stitch in a straight line.”

“Good enough.” Sehun popped down the hall to his duffel bag and returned with the necessary herbs and fabric. Between the two of them, it was easy work. Sehun measured out the herbs, African violets, bergamot, ginger, and lotus, and Kibum started folding them inward to be sewn shut. His stitches were better than Sehun’s, probably a side effect of working in the fashion industry. Sehun tied his sachet around his neck with the white rope that had bound him to Kris and Jongin. Remembering that was like a punch to the gut.

With Kibum’s sachet completed and on, Sehun pulled the Balm of Gilead oil from his bag, dipping his finger in it and painting a protection sigil on Kibum’s forehead.

“That’s not going to make me break out, is it?” Kibum asked, inhaling the warm, sweet smell of the oil.

Sehun giggled. “I doubt it.” He drew his own sigil on. “Are you ready?”

“Physically, yeah I guess. Mentally, no.”

“It’s okay to be scared. This is some scary shit.” The weight of Sehun’s bones came back and Sehun wished he could throw his Sight away.

“It’s my house, and if this Mary Ward girl is stuck here, I want to help get her out. So let’s go.” Kibum squared his shoulders.

“All right. Let’s start right here.” They combed over every inch of Kibum’s room, searching for a small hidden lock. Sehun’s room got the same treatment before they moved on. It was slow, exhausting work, down on their hands and knees to look for clues. Kibum must have fondled the desk in the pink room to an indecent extent, just looking for a lock in its body.

“If you were Mary Ward, where would you have a secret compartment?” Sehun asked, sitting back on his heels. Kibum, fanning his face rather than swiping at his forehead to remove the sweat, stared up at the ceiling.

“My first thought is the desk. My second thought is the closet. Both places we’ve already checked.” Kibum looked around the room. “I don’t remember moving anything out of here. I had it cleaned when I moved in but-” He paused, then snapped his fingers. “No, I did move something! There was this old chest, I moved it down to the cellar.”

“That’s probably what this key goes to.” They stopped to get flashlights and the camping lantern Kibum kept around for emergencies and headed for the cellar. The single bare bulb in the cellar didn’t illuminate much other than vague shapes in the darkness. Sehun rammed his knee into something and swore under his breath.

“What does the chest look like?” Sehun called to Kibum, sifting through objects on the other side of the cellar.

“Carved wood. There’s a flower in gold on the top of it.” Sehun kicked a box to the side, wading through the mess to another stack of things. He had to carefully pick his way over a chandelier just lying on the floor of the cellar to reach what looked like carved wood. Just as he got close to it, Kibum started screaming.

“Key?” Sehun vaulted over the chandelier, trying to find Kibum in the shadowy cellar. Following the sound of the screaming wasn’t hard. Sehun nearly rammed into Kibum. Then he looked up, and had to swallow back a scream of his own.

There was a ghost, a man, with half of his right side blown away. He looked vicious and angry, and his hands were so close to Kibum, held back only by the sachet.

“Enough!” Sehun roared, throwing one hand up against the ghost. It went straight through, but where his bracelet overlapped with the ghost, it seemed to sizzle. The ghost vanished, leaving Sehun holding a shaking Kibum in his arms. The two of them sank to the damp cellar floor, Kibum half curled in Sehun’s lap.

“He—he-” Kibum spluttered, his breath coming in heavy gasps.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay.” Sehun soothed, curling Kibum closer to his chest. Kibum felt like a fragile doll in his arms, too delicate to take the weight of what had just happened. “I’ve got you, Key, it’s okay.” Sehun found himself dropping kisses into Kibum’s hair, his cheeks, his nose, whatever he could reach to try to soothe him.

The panic faded slowly as Kibum came back to himself. “Jesus Christ.” Kibum said, pushing his hair back from his face. “That was horrifying.”

“Ghosts appear the way they did when they died.” Sehun explained. “My guess is he got a cannonball to the side.”

“Cannonball. Yeah, that seems about right.” Kibum shook himself. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I want to find that chest before something happens to it.” Sehun helped Kibum to his feet. “Go up to your room and wait for me there.”

“And leave you here by yourself? Hell no!” Kibum held fast to Sehun’s hand. The psychic just sighed and led Kibum back to where he’d been looking. Buried under a pile of collapsed cardboard boxes was the chest, about two feet across and cedar. In the back of his mind Sehun thought the chest would make a beautiful addition to Minseok’s inventory. But he shook that thought away and hurried upstairs, pushing Kibum up before him.

They retreated to the safety of Kibum’s room with the chest. There was no lock on it, just a latch to keep it closed. There was nothing inside, not that either of them expected to find anything from 200 years ago.

“Wait, look at this.” Kibum put one hand in the chest and another underneath. “There’s a lot of space between my hands, and this box isn’t that heavy that it could be solid.” They flipped it over, checked the sides, and on one of the sides, there was a tiny keyhole. Sehun undid the key from around his neck and slid it in.

With a soft _snick_ , the lock open and the whole bottom slid out in Sehun’s hands. There was crumpled, yellowing fabric in the secret drawer. Kibum shook it out and both of them stared at it.

“Baby clothes?” Sehun breathed.

\--

Kibum was curled up with a cup of violet and ylang-ylang tea, staring blankly into the fireplace. Sehun had tucked a blanket up around his chin and he was still cold.

The psychic wasn’t sure what to do with him. Sehun had fortified the den so they could sit peacefully, but Kibum was still tense. Even the herbs didn’t seem to be working on him. He wondered if he should have slipped a Valium in or something.

It had just all become too much for Kibum. The ghost of the girl, the man with half his side missing, the noose in the chandelier, the baby clothes. God, the baby clothes. He must have made a noise, because Sehun looked up from where he’d been staring at the carpet.

“Key?” Sehun said softly, searching the other man’s face for any trace of emotion.

“The noises I’ve been hearing, outside.” Kibum murmured. “I thought it was a wild animal. But it wasn’t. It’s a baby, isn’t it? They left the baby outside to die.”

“We don’t know that yet.” Sehun had come to the same conclusion, but didn’t want to believe it. He got up, his movement making Kibum flinch. “I haven’t gotten that far into Mary’s diary.”

“I don’t think that’s something someone writes down in a diary!”

“Mary wanted me to read it, the whole thing. Maybe there’s something in there that’ll tell us what happened.” Sehun sat next to him on the couch carefully.

“I can’t do this, Sehun. I’m not cut out for this.” The mug shook in Kibum’s hands so badly that he had to put it down or risk dropping it all over himself.

“No one’s cut out for this, Key. Not even me.” Sehun was hardly surprised when Kibum practically flung himself into his lap. The designer wound his arms around Sehun’s slim waist, burying his face in his chest. Sehun, used to this kind of reaction from Baekhyun and occasionally Tao, pulled the blanket up to cover them both, tucking it around them. Then he shifted Kibum into a more comfortable position on his body, burying his face in the designer’s hair. There was little to do but hold onto each other.

Sehun didn’t know what Kibum was thinking about, but his own mind was busy, turning over the different clues they’d uncovered. A ghost who couldn’t speak, a noose, baby clothes hidden in a trunk, a ghost killed by a cannonball, a baby’s cries outside. Sehun could see a vague theory forming around it, but without knowing about the door that went to nowhere, he couldn’t be sure.

Sehun glanced down at Kibum, whose face was hidden in the front of his sweatshirt. It was almost too much to ask of him to keep him here in the mansion. Sehun wished he could send him somewhere else, maybe to Junmyeon’s house, anywhere but here. He didn’t have the kind of…

Emotional numbness was the only thing Sehun could come up with. He had become numb to death and pain. He had to feel it from everything he touched and everyone around him. It was only a matter of time before his skin thickened against it, before he had to become something cold and clinical to keep living.

 _Maybe that’s why Jongin prefers Taemin_ , a nasty voice said in the back of his head. Sehun wondered if that could be it, if Jongin had felt Sehun withdrawing into himself, and that was why he was showing so much interest in Taemin. _Could it be my fault_?

The thought made him sick to his stomach, and he tightened his arms around Kibum, if just to feel the warmth of another body next to his. Kibum looked up at him through damp eyelashes and Sehun felt a flutter in his chest like a trapped bird.

 _Transference_ , his rational mind reminded him. Sehun ignored it, opting to snuggle Kibum in closer to his body. They ended up lying side by side on the couch, tangled up in each other’s limbs. With the warmth of the room and the stress of the day, the two of them began to doze off.

Across the room, where a draft had cut into Sehun’s line of herbs, a ghostly hand reached into the den. Sehun stirred slightly, the cool air wafting over his face irritating him. Kibum, curled into the space between his shoulder and his neck, didn’t react at all.

The hand reached down, touching Sehun, and he felt the brush of lace against his forehead. It was just barely enough to do what was necessary before the ghost vanished again.

Sehun fell into a deeper sleep, falling far beyond the reach of Taemin or Jongin or ghosts. He let out a deep breath, his brow smoothing, and relaxed back into the couch.

Kibum and Sehun slept for a few hours and woke up disoriented. There was a puddle of drying drool under Sehun’s face and Kibum had a crick in his neck, and neither of them were sure if it was today or tomorrow. Kibum finally managed to find one of their phones and confirmed it was in fact still today.

“We should eat something.” Sehun mumbled, rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes roughly.

“Yeah. Food.” Kibum took a swig of the cold tea on the table. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Whatever Junmyeon’s making for dinner.” Sehun paused. “I bet he’d feed us.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to impose on him.”

“Please. Junnie loves feeding people. Besides, don’t you want to get out of this house again?”

“True. All right, call him, I’ll grab shoes and jackets for us.” Kibum disappeared upstairs while Sehun dialed Junmyeon’s number. It seemed like an unnecessary courtesy when Junmyeon always made more than enough food and encouraged people to drop in.

“Is everything okay?” Junmyeon asked as soon as he picked up.

“Yes, Suho, everything is fine. We were trying to figure out dinner and I thought maybe you could-”

“Yixing, set two more places!” Junmyeon bellowed, nearly deafening Sehun. “I’ll expect you in twenty minutes?”

“Just about. See you soon.” Sehun hung up just as Kibum came back with their things. After bundling up against the rain, they hurried out to Sehun’s car. He preferred driving, if only because it made him focus on the road and not on his own thoughts.

Tao’s car was parked in front of the house and Sehun smiled. It would be good to see Tao, especially at a time like this. He was unapologetic about his feelings and felt them as strongly as he should. Sehun thought it was an example he should follow sometimes.

Kris opened the door and Kibum craned his neck to look up at the blonde giant who had greeted them.

“Fuck, he is the BFG.” Kibum muttered. Sehun burst out laughing as he moved in to give Kris a hug. Thankfully, Kris didn’t ask and Sehun didn’t have to explain. He introduced Kibum and led him into the living room, where Tao and Yixing were having a conversation in Mandarin.

“Sehun, who’s this?” Tao asked, switching languages smoothly. His eyes were firmly glued to Kibum, who had firmly glued himself to Sehun’s side.

“This is Kibum. I’m taking care of a ghost infestation for him.” Sehun shot him a glare, daring him to say anything else. Tao just leaned back against the couch, an easy smile spreading on his face.

“Nice to meet you, Kibum. I wish it was under better circumstances.” Tao said.

“Feeling better?” Yixing asked Sehun quietly when he sat down next to him.

“Yeah. Key and I took a nap. We needed one after the shit we found.” Sehun spoke without thinking about his phrasing. Yixing’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline and Tao looked a little surprised.

“That tea you made me must be stronger than I thought, because I knocked right out.” Kibum also didn’t notice the implications.

“Hunnie, I think Junmyeon needs us in the kitchen.” Tao said, hauling Sehun up by his elbow. Sehun nearly tripped over his feet following him into the kitchen, where Junmyeon was stirring what smelled and looked like a pot of minestrone.

“What the fuck is the matter with you?” Tao hissed out. “You’re taking naps with a random dude in Jongin’s bed?”

Sehun’s mouth tightened into a line and Junmyeon answered before he did. “First off, Sehun is staying in the Ward mansion with Kibum. Second, Jongin’s faithfulness is in question, not Sehun’s. Third, mind your mouth, Zitao.”

“We knocked out on the couch. We saw some scary shit down in the cellar and found more scary shit in a trunk, and I really don’t need anyone giving me shit.” Sehun sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry. I’m just stressed out.”

“I’m sorry too, Hunnie.” Tao wrapped him up in a hug, the harsh angles of his body softening like his love. “I didn’t know.”

“Yeah. It’s not a fun situation, but it’s not my immediate concern. Dude’s gonna get killed if I don’t help him out.”

“You realize that guy has a fat crush on you, right?”

Sehun glanced out into the living room where Kibum was accepting a glass of wine from Yixing. “Really? You think?”

“I think he’s just shy.” Junmyeon commented, joining the group to look into the living room. “He’s most comfortable with Sehun.”

But Sehun wasn’t so sure. He thought maybe Kibum did have a crush on him, especially with the way Kibum’s eyes kept wandering away from Yixing and Kris and towards Sehun. Sehun was glad his hair was dark again; a blush didn’t stand out so much against black hair.

Dinner was comfortable, easy. Minestrone and wine, and good company, it was what Kibum and Sehun had both needed. They needed comfort and brightness after the mansion’s gloominess.

Still, once they’d left the mansion, Sehun started thinking about Jongin again. He missed the sound of voice; he should call him.

So he excused himself from the living room and shut himself up in the guest room, lying back on the bed as he waited for Jongin to pick up.

“Hunnie! Where have you been?” Jongin practically yelled through the phone. Sehun winced, holding it away from his ear.

“I’ve been busy ghost hunting.” He paused. “Are you drunk?”

Jongin giggled. “Maybe just a little. Taemin and I may have had a few too many.”

“Taemin’s there?”

“Well yeah, I’m lonely without you here.” Sehun could practically hear his pout. “But Taemin has known me forever, so he’s good company. Kinda fills in the space.”

Sehun felt sick to his stomach. “I miss you, baby.”

“I miss you too.” There was clattering on the other side of the line. “Fuck, Taemin, just stay still!”

“Don’t let him break anything in our place.”

“Eh, he’ll be fine.” Jongin chuckled. “Any idea when you’re coming home?”

“No idea yet.” There was more shouting back and forth between Taemin and Jongin. “Look, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later. I love you.”

There was a faint “love you too” before the line went dead. Sehun wanted to curl up and cry, or maybe throw up, or maybe both. Instead, he shoved his emotions back behind the wall and went back downstairs, wedging himself in between Tao and Kibum. Kibum snuggled into the crook of his neck; Sehun practically climbed into Tao’s lap. Before long they were just a heap of limbs and heads and Kris was snapping pictures for later blackmail.

Finally Yixing and Junmyeon had to help untangle them because Sehun’s bare feet had gotten tangled in the afghan wrapped around all of them and Tao couldn’t get out because his ankles were threaded through Sehun’s. A very giggly Kibum clung to Sehun as they said their goodbyes and headed out for the car.

Kibum chattered on about Sehun’s family and the dinner and the wine. It was nice to hear him so happy for a change. Sehun parked closer to the house than usual, sure that Kibum would be struggling on the gravel driveway to get out. As it was, Sehun had to support him most of the way into the house.

In the dark entryway, they lost their balance and Sehun accidentally shoved Kibum into the wall, tumbling after him. They ended up chest to chest, hip to hip. There was a moment of held breath, of mutual surprise, of uncertainness. Sehun could smell the wine on Kibum’s breath, could feel the way his hands had tightened around his waist.

And something in Sehun wanted it. He wanted to throw it in Jongin’s face that he wasn’t the only one who could have someone else interested in them. He wanted to prove to himself that he was still desirable, wanted someone to hold him and kiss him and make him feel something again. Kibum pressed their foreheads together, their lips almost touching but not quite.

“Not like this,” Sehun whispered, brushing his nose against Kibum’s before he pulled away. Kibum seemed to nod in the dark.

“Can you help me up the stairs? I don’t think I can do it.” Kibum giggled, a nervous sound.

“I’ve got you.” With one arm looped around Kibum’s waist, they made their way upstairs slowly. Sehun helped him take off his shoes and made sure he could maneuver the bedroom alone before he went to his own room.

The bed was cold and lonely, and too quiet. Sehun missed the waves outside the cottage, missed Jongin’s ever present hands on him. And even as he missed him, Sehun hated him. He hated him for ignoring him after Taemin had reappeared, hated him for replacing him with Taemin, hated him for everything he suspected had happened.

Maybe he should have kissed Kibum. Maybe he wouldn’t be lying in the dark with so much hate in his heart if he had.

\--

Amber and Krystal arrived early the next morning, loaded down with herbs and a spell book. Kibum, yawning and still dressed in his pajamas, was very surprised to see the two witches setting up in his den when he came downstairs.

“Hi there,” he said, entering the room cautiously. Sehun was bent over a mortar and pestle crushing up herbs that stung Kibum’s nose, but he stood up to make the introductions. Instinctively, his hand came up to rest on Kibum’s lower back, steadying him. As soon as he realized he was doing it he pulled his hand away like he’d been burned.

“Are you ready to explore the doorway to nowhere?” Amber asked, looking up from her spell book.

“If you guys are gonna give us some magical bulletproof vests, then yeah, I am.” Kibum didn’t want to relive the day before with the cannonball ghost.

“We’re going in with the equivalent of nuclear weapons. We’ll be fine.” Sehun muttered into his mortar.

“So, what can I do?” Kibum asked, feeling useless in the room full of busy people.

“There really isn’t a lot to do. Krystal and I started the spell last night, we just needed to add the herbs that Sehun is crushing. Freshness kind of matters in magic.” Amber shrugged. “Just stay still and be ready to get some war paint on you.”

So Kibum sat, and watched Sehun. The younger man was angled away from him, hunched over his work like he didn’t want to make eye contact with Kibum. Kibum was sure that it had to do with the almost-kiss the night before. But nothing had happened. He’d seen where the boundary lay and he was going to back off.

Krystal produced a flask of blue syrupy liquid and poured some out into a pewter bowl that Amber had just used a sage smudge stick on. Sehun threw in a bit of the herbs, Amber murmured something unintelligible, and the liquid turned gold.

“Perfect.” Krystal grinned, adding the rest of the liquid. Sehun picked up the bowl and approached Kibum slowly.

“You’re going to want to take your shirt off.” He muttered, a pink tinge coloring the tips of his ears. Kibum thought it was kind of adorable. So he took his shirt off, pretending not to notice the way Sehun’s eyes flicked over his torso.

When the gold liquid made contact with his skin, it was warmer than he had expected. Sehun drew a pattern from his collarbones down to his navel, the center of it placed directly over his heart. Amber took his place to murmur a spell over him. The liquid grew hotter and then abruptly cooled, having hardened against his skin.

Amber drew the pattern on Sehun, and Kibum stared unabashedly at his leanly muscled body. After the sigil had hardened on Sehun’s skin, Amber and Krystal went into the kitchen to do their own symbols. Sehun started to rebutton his shirt, fumbling slightly because of the plant oils still on his fingers.

“Here, let me.” Kibum said, stepping into his space to button it for him. Sehun let his head drop back, exposing the smooth column of his throat. Kibum wanted to kiss it, wanted to mark it. Sehun thankfully didn’t make it weird by jumping away from him, just thanked him quietly and went back to flipping through the diary to see if they could find any clues.

“Nothing?” Amber asked when they came back into the room.

“If she’s mentioned it, it’s not a doorway to nowhere. I guess we just have to go down and find it.” Sehun shrugged, stuffing the diary somewhere safe. “Everybody ready?”

“As ready as I’m gonna be.” Kibum muttered. He felt only mildly better that two witches were accompanying them; as far as he knew, ghosts weren’t affected by spells. Or maybe they were and they’d all be fine. Positivity, that was the best track.

With the camping lantern and several flashlights, they descended into the cellar once again. Kibum stuck close to Sehun, who was holding the lantern in front of him.

“I think someone got mad.” Sehun said, lifting the lantern to show the disaster that his cellar had become. Boxes had been flung around, the contents spilling out. Sehun stepped over broken glass from a shattered mirror. “I hope this stuff wasn’t important.”

“Not particularly. Do you think this happened when we were gone yesterday?” Kibum couldn’t imagine any other time when this kind of wreckage could have happened without them hearing it.

“That’s my bet. The ghost we scared off probably got mad that we got what we were looking for.” Sehun straightened his spine. “The blueprints show it off to that side. Let’s see if we can even get there.”

Even with the four of them, it still took the better part of an hour to clear a path towards the door. Someone definitely did not want them approaching it. Sehun was almost expecting it when the ghost with his side missing reappeared, a menacing howl coming from his throat.

“You don’t belong here!” The ghost roared. A nearby stack of boxes teetered and went down, narrowly missing Kibum and Sehun, who jumped away at the last second. “This is my house, my land, and you are trespassing!” He reached for Kibum and howled, drawing back and disappearing. The sigil glowed briefly under Kibum’s shirt before going away.

“That was no fun.” Sehun said, just to break the silence. “I say we get in there before he comes back and drops more shit on us.”

“I’ll stay out here, make sure he doesn’t block the door.” Krystal offered. Amber pressed her palm gently before leading the way through the door.

It wasn’t a door to nowhere, just a door to a room that had been hollowed out from the earth. It smelled like dirt and rot and damp. The remnants of what looked like an oldfashioned mattress were on one side. The other held only a small clay pot and the tattered remains of an old shirt.

“Okay, he was way too into keeping us out of here just for some old fabric.” Amber said, poking the shirt with the toe of her boot. “Something else must be in here. Can you feel it, Sehun?”

Sehun closed his eyes and breathed deep, and he smelled roses faintly. It was a smell that had become familiar to him. “Mary? You can come out. He’s not here.” She crackled into sight; Kibum shrank behind Sehun slightly, still frightened of the ghost. “Is there a spell keeping you from speaking?”

She shook her head and pulled her fingers into the lace collar of her dress, tugging it down just low enough that they could see the purple ligature marks around her throat.

“Broken trachea.” Amber murmured.

“You hung yourself from the chandelier.” Kibum’s eyes were wide with horror as she nodded.

“Mary, you wanted me to read the diary but I’m not finding anything in there that tells me what happened to you. Is there another clue that I should be looking for?”

There was a rumble outside the door and Krystal shouting. Mary bent hurriedly and drew in the dirt before vanishing from sight. Amber hurried out to help her girlfriend, leaving Kibum and Sehun to see the word that she had left.

 _Mother_.

“Time to go boys!” Amber shouted through the door. There was a flash of light and the sound of falling objects. Sehun grabbed Kibum’s hand and dragged him out, past Krystal and Amber and the ghost with the cannonball wound. The four of them raced up the cellar stairs and towards the den, leaping over the protective line of herbs and skidding to a stop.

“How did she even manage to get up to the chandelier?” Kibum wondered aloud as he sat up. “I mean, that’s pretty far up.”

“Maybe there was a balcony there that was removed.” Amber shook her head. “Did you get anything else out of her?”

“Something about her mother.” Sehun fetched the diary, flipping through it. “She and her mother were close, but Mr. and Mrs. Ward didn’t have a good marriage. It was arranged and apparently he was kind of an asshole.”

“I’ll bet you ten bucks Mr. Ward is the guy downstairs.” Kibum muttered.

“Mother…there was something in here about her mother.” Sehun flipped farther towards the back. “Aha! She and her mother used to walk around the grounds a lot. There’s a series of two weeks where she only really talks about going on these walks and doing embroidery. Seems like she was ill during this time.”

“Not ill. Pregnant.” Kibum supplied. “The baby clothes, remember? They were in her trunk, locked away.”

“I think you’re right. But she can only answer yes or no questions and in short bursts.” Amber chewed on her lip. “We couldn’t even help her move on if we tried.”

“No, but her mother might be able to tell us something.” Sehun lifted his head. “She references her mother’s rose garden, away from the house. We might find something out there.”

They suited up for the rain quickly, following the vague directions of the diary into the woods that edged the property.

“Have you ever seen a rose garden out here?” Sehun asked Kibum.

“No roses, but there’s some stones out there, like edging for flower beds.” Kibum hesitated, then slipped his fingers into Sehun’s hand. The psychic didn’t throw his hand away, just squeezed it comfortingly. He knew how hard it must be for Kibum, to deal with spirits and things he couldn’t control or see. And part of him selfishly liked having his hand held.

They stumbled across the stones that marked where the garden had been. Mostly there were gnarled stumps of old trees and bushes, and stones marking the borders. A dirty stone bench sat in the middle of the garden.

“I’m picking up something, but it’s hard to focus on.” Sehun closed his eyes and held his hands out in front of him, forcing himself to focus. There was a presence, something that reminded him of Yixing’s hugs and his mother’s smile. If he could just coax her out-

“Sehun.” Kibum poked him in the ribs. “Look.” He pointed around their feet, where mist was swirling and thickening up. Amber grabbed Kibum by the collar and hauled him away, leaving Sehun in the column of mist.

It was something he’d only heard of from his grandfather, old stories about the Sight and things that were possible. He’d never thought he’d ever encounter it, but his grandfather had been adamant that he learned how to deal with it.

So he opened his mind and breathed in, the mist filling his lungs. Kibum yelped in fear when he saw Sehun collapse, eyes rolled back in his head.

“He’s all right. If we move him or try to wake him up it could go bad.” Amber said, holding onto Kibum. “Never thought I’d see this in my lifetime.”

“What did he do?” Kibum asked, kneeling on the damp moss to check Sehun’s pulse carefully. His heart was beating normally, strong as ever.

“He took the spirit in physically. It’s like…” Amber searched for a metaphor, something that would make sense.

“It’s like inhaling someone’s memories. The spirit is in his body as a guest, feeding its memories to him. And when the spirit is finished, he’ll exhale it.” Krystal explained. “It’s rare for this to happen. Spirits don’t usually hang around in a nebulous form, especially if it’s as old as we think it is.”

“But he’s going to be okay?” Kibum couldn’t take his eyes off Sehun’s face. His skin was pale and his eyes were half open, only the whites showing.

“He’ll be fine. Sehun is strong. Stronger than even he knows.” Amber wrapped an arm around her girlfriend, and settled in to wait.

\--

Sehun opened his eyes, and he was in the mansion, the way it must have looked in its prime. The chandelier was lit and glowing, the marble floor sparkled. A servant bustled across the entryway, carrying linens to the downstairs bedrooms. Sehun looked down at his hands and found a woman’s hands. A large diamond ring sat on her ring finger; Sehun got the sense of it as being like a ball and chain.

“Mama?” A soft voice said behind Sehun. He turned with a swish of heavy skirts against the carpet. In front of him was Mary Ward as she must have looked in life. Her blonde hair was shiny and her cheeks were pink. She was beautiful, young, full of life. Her neck, exposed in her nightgown, was perfect and unmarked.

“What’s the matter dear?” Sehun heard himself say in a woman’s voice.

“I can’t sleep. The sickness…” Mary’s hand went to her belly and Sehun could see the curve of her swollen stomach. She had been pregnant.

“It kept me up too. I’ll have Mrs. Brown make some chamomile tea for you. In the meantime, let’s get you back to bed. It’s too cold for you to be wandering around like this.” After tucking Mary back under her covers, Sehun caught sight of himself in the mirror. The spirit he had taken in was definitely Mary’s mother. Her nose and eyes and high forehead were exactly the same as her daughter’s, her blonde hair an ashier color.

The servant came in with the tea. Sehun could smell the chamomile even in this state. It didn’t seem to settle her stomach at all, but at least it was hot. The room was chilly, even in the heavy gown.

Eventually, Mary fell asleep and her mother went to her room to get ready for bed. Sehun felt like a pervert being privy to someone’s undressing like this, but this was a memory and he had to live it out exactly as it had been remembered. So he endured the changing from the heavy gown to the loose nightgown. Just as they were about to get into bed, the memory melted away, replaced by another.

Mary was screaming. Her mother ran to the edge of the stairs, looking down to see her daughter halfway down, her long blonde hair in the grip of the man who’d lost half his side to a cannonball. She was heavily pregnant at this point.

“I’ll not have you desecrating our family name!” The man roared, dragging her down another few steps by her hair.

“George, stop!” The mother ran down the stairs, trying to get between her husband and her daughter.

“Stay _out_ of this, Elizabeth!” George backhanded her hard across the face and Sehun tasted blood in his mouth. “If you had been a better mother maybe our daughter wouldn’t have gone spreading her legs for the first man who came along. Just a little slut, aren’t you?” He shook Mary by her hair and she cried out. “I’ve got just the place for you, little slut.”

Elizabeth and Sehun had to watch as Mary was dragged down to the cellar stairs, where she disappeared. Elizabeth was not permitted to visit her or see where she was. The flashes of memory Sehun saw showed that George had hit her a few more times, and that Elizabeth was terrified for the fate of her daughter and her grandchild. She had been the one to hide the baby clothes she had been sewing in the secret bottom of her daughter’s trunk.

The memory changed to a dark night, a raging storm. There was screaming coming from the cellar and Elizabeth pounded against it desperately, trying to get through to her daughter. But she couldn’t break the door down and George forced her upstairs and locked her away in the study, where she wailed and screamed to be let out.

The screaming continued from the cellar, until it finally ended. There were heavy footsteps on the bottom floor and the back door flew open. Elizabeth rushed to the window, a crack of lightning illuminating the shape of her husband and a small bundle in his arms. He carried it to the edge of the woods and dumped the bundle among the roots unceremoniously. Elizabeth shrieked, long and loud, and fainted dead away.

The next memory wasn’t any better: Elizabeth on her knees sobbing hysterically, the body of her daughter hanging from the chandelier like a morbid doll.

Sehun came back to himself and immediately rolled over to throw up into the leaves. His very soul hurt at the things he’d had to see. The mist had rolled away from him, back into the trees and vanished from sight.

“Are you okay?” Kibum asked, helping Sehun sit up and wipe his face.

“No. But I’ll be okay when we go inside and exorcise that son of a bitch.” Sehun spat again. “Mary was pregnant, out of wedlock. Her father locked her in that cellar room and when she gave birth he left the baby outside to die. Mary killed herself afterwards.”

“Oh, God.” Krystal breathed, one hand over her mouth.

“And she can’t escape her father even in death. He’s the lovely cannonball ghost we ran into.” Sehun got to his feet shakily. “You have the stuff for an exorcism?”

“Never leave home without it. Let’s go.” Amber led the way out of the woods and back to the house. They moved quickly in the den, gathering the necessary ingredients. Sehun mixed the agrimony, rattlesnake root, blue cohosh, and mandrake himself, dousing it with a generous amount of frankincense oil and vinegar to make sure that they sent George Ward straight to hell where he belonged.

“You ready, Hunnie?” Amber asked, lighting two white candles.

“If this doesn’t blast that asshole out of here, I don’t know what else will.” Sehun grabbed his lighter from the table. “Entryway seems the best place to do this. Key, you stay here.”

“Are you sure?” Kibum asked.

“It’s dangerous. I don’t want you getting hurt. Just wait here, and don’t leave the circle, okay?” Sehun chucked him under the chin gently. “Don’t frown, it’ll give you wrinkles.” That made Kibum smile, and he sat down, willing himself to stay put. What help would he be anyway? He’d just be a spectator to something awful.

Still, he was close enough to hear what was going on. He heard when Sehun bellowed, “George Ward, get your murderous, abusive ass down here!” He heard the rattling of the fixtures and felt the air drop in temperature. Kibum hunkered down, praying for a quick resolution.

And it was quick, for exorcism standards. Sehun had used a heavy hand when mixing the herbs and the blue fire was almost burning his face as it leaped in the bowl. And with the help of two witches flooding him with more power, it was almost easy to remove George Ward from the house. His spirit seemed to catch on fire and he burned away, leaving only the faint smell of burning hair. Sehun blew out the flames and plunked down hard on his ass, his legs having given out.

“You just sit down for a second.” Amber said, kissing his forehead. Even she looked a little drawn, probably from having given Sehun so much extra juice. He was sitting alone in the entryway when Mary appeared.

“He’s gone. You don’t have to be scared anymore.” Sehun said hoarsely. She smiled, but it was still sad. “You can move on now.”

She shook her head, and held her arms as if she was rocking a baby. Sehun nodded, realizing what she meant. He got up on wobbly legs, toddling to the den.

“Kibum, do you have a shovel handy?” Sehun asked, leaning against the wall to hold himself up.

“There’s some old tools in the shed out back. Why?” He got up, coming to the edge of the room. He saw Mary and started back.

“There’s one more thing we have to do before your house is ghost free.” Kibum nodded slowly, his face turning serious.

“I’ll do it.” He stepped over the line of herbs and headed immediately for the shed in the back. Sehun stumbled after him towards the cluster of trees George had dumped the baby under. He wasn’t sure if they’d even find anything there, but they had to try.

Sehun sat with his back against a tree, trying to get his strength back, while Kibum dug steadily down, until something white emerged from the soil. He knelt, brushing the dirt away. A tiny finger bone.

“Found him.” Kibum whispered, his voice thick with tears. Sehun was already crying. The two of them got down on their knees and collected the bones they could find, putting them on Sehun’s sweatshirt so they could carry them back to the house.

It felt like a funeral march, carrying the tiny bones back to the house, to the mother who had never held her baby. Mary was waiting, a silent specter, Amber and Krystal just behind her. Sehun knelt and put the bones in front of her.

Mary knelt, her fingers brushing over the tiny skull, the jumbled bones of her baby. Mist coagulated around their feet and Elizabeth Ward appeared, an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. In between breaths, they faded away, leaving the house empty of ghosts at last.

Kibum found a nice box among his things and placed the baby’s bones in it, to give him a decent burial in his grandmother’s rose garden. Amber fashioned a small marker for him, using magic to turn a rough stone into a smooth, polished block. After the solemn funeral, they returned to the house, too exhausted to talk to each other. Amber and Krystal collected their things and left quietly.

Sehun felt so old and so tired deep in his bones and in his heart. But it was over. The Wards had moved on to the places they were meant to be. Now that he no longer had the distraction, all he could think of was his own ghost problem.

“I need to go home.” Sehun said, startling Kibum by the suddenness of his words. “I’ll be back in the morning but I…I need to go see Jongin.”

Kibum just nodded. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Sehun grabbed his jacket and his car keys and headed for the cottage. He didn’t know what he would say when he got there, or what he would do, but he knew that was where he needed to be right then. The drive seemed to take forever because of his impatience to be home and fix things with Jongin.

He wasn’t surprised to see another car parked in front of the cottage. Of course Taemin was there. He’d almost been expecting it. And maybe it would be better if he was there, if the three of them just had it out and Sehun defended his relationship.

He was thinking of ways to approach it as he opened his front door, and ways to seem less threatening to Taemin when he walked into his living room. Just as he stepped foot on the weathered boards and the antique rug, a shape emerged from the bedroom. Sehun turned on the light and saw Taemin blinking against the sudden brightness, hands halfway through pulling his zipper up. His shirt was gone. Sehun felt his heart drop into his stomach. It seemed like minutes passed as they just stared at each other.

“Tae, what’s taking you so long?” Jongin asked, ambling out of the bedroom in just his boxers. He visibly paled at the sight of Sehun, his full mouth falling open in surprise.

Sehun was in such a state of shock he didn’t know what to do, until he noticed the scratch marks on Jongin’s chest. That was enough to make him snap and he sprang forward, catching Jongin off guard and taking them both down to the floor. Hands that had once caressed his face formed into fists, a mouth that had kissed him stretching into a snarl.

“I _loved you_ and you fucked him in our bed!” Sehun shouted in between punches. He could feel Taemin trying to pull him off Jongin, but there was no stopping him. “You fucking piece of shit!” His voice turned into a mocking parody of Jongin’s voice. “’You are so, so special, my Sehun. My beautiful, brave Sehun.’ All of that was just bullshit, you settling for fucking second best until Taemin came back?” He spat in Jongin’s bloody face. “You are the lowest fucking scum of the earth.” He stood up, not caring when he stepped on Jongin, and shoved Taemin out of his way.

He didn’t know where he was going, as long as it was away from the cottage, because he was worried he might actually turn around and kill them both. And Jongin probably would have let him; he’d just laid there and taken the beating, hadn’t even tried to stop him. Sehun’s blood boiled and he took a right turn so sharp that his tires skidded, sending him swerving into the next lane. He corrected it, finally realizing where it was he was going.

Kibum practically skidded on the hardwood floor as he hurried to answer the door for whoever was pounding on his front door. He opened the door and saw Sehun, but not as he’d ever seen him. He was soaked to the skin, and his eyes looked…like he’d just suffered the worst shock of his life. Then he looked up from the porch and saw Kibum, and his face smoothed out.

Kibum was suddenly very cognizant of the way he was dressed: an over-sized v-neck sweater that hung off one shoulder, and a pair of tight track pants. He hadn’t been able to stay in his clothes, not after the events of the day. Sehun’s eyes traced his exposed collarbone like he wanted to sink his teeth into it.

“Sehun, you’re soaking wet. Come inside.” Kibum said, leading him to the den almost numbly. Sehun followed, letting Kibum sit him down by the fireplace and wrap a blanket around him. “Are you all right? I thought you were going to spend the night at home.”

“I was.” Sehun said dully. He was staring at the bracelets around his wrist, the gold almost taunting him. “Did I ever tell you what these were for?”

“No. I thought they were a fashion statement.” Kibum had hardly noticed them because Sehun always wore long sleeves.

“After I died, I developed the power to feel other people’s emotions. I needed protection, insulation from everyone else’s feelings. It was too much. But now I just feel nothing.” His eyes lifted to meet Kibum’s with that predatory look again. “Would you let me feel you, Kibum?”

Kibum wanted to say no, wanted to clamp them around his wrists. But he found himself nodding instead. Sehun took the bracelets off, one at a time, setting them on the hearth. He closed his eyes, absorbing Kibum. When his eyes opened, his pupils had blown wide.

“What do you feel, Sehun?” Kibum asked softly.

“Not enough.” He practically tackled Kibum to the floor, mouth seeking out his hungrily. And Kibum let him do it, fingers twisting up into Sehun’s wet hair. He didn’t mind the rain water soaking into his sweater or the icy fingers clutching at his face. Sehun licked his way into Kibum’s mouth, mapping it out with his tongue. Kibum managed to pry him off his face just long enough to surge up and bite Sehun’s neck. Sehun moaned and sat up, moving to pull his shirt over his head.

In the light of the fire, Kibum saw that the dark spots on his shirt weren’t rain drops, but bloodstains.

“Sehun! Is this yours?” Kibum asked, grabbing at his shirt.

Sehun looked down at his shirt as if he was surprised to see it. “No. Not mine.”

Kibum froze. “Not yours…but Jongin’s?” Sehun nodded dully and Kibum’s stomach turned. He looked at Sehun’s hands and saw his bruised and bloody knuckles. “Sehun, what did you do?”

He flinched, the weight of Kibum’s fear and judgment settling on his chest. “He fucked him. In my bed. I couldn’t-” Sehun let out a hysterical sob. “I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Shh, it’s okay.” Kibum sat up, pulling Sehun close to him. “As long as it wasn’t permanent damage, it’s okay.”

“He’ll be fine. Probably fucked up his pretty face though.” Sehun laughed but it was bitter and hollow.

“And then you came here.” Kibum blinked fast, trying to hide the angry tears that had sprung to his eyes. He was just the rebound fuck, nothing else.

“Key…” Sehun’s hands, bloody on the outside but soft and gentle on the inside, tilted Kibum’s face up. “I came here because I wasn’t going to deny what’s between us anymore. Not when I’m unattached.” He kissed the designer’s eyelids gently. “Not to use you, but to be with you.”

Kibum collected himself, knowing that Sehun could feel the storm inside him calming down. “Not tonight, then.”

“That’s okay.” He dipped his head to kiss him on the mouth gently. “Just let me be close to you.” That wasn’t too much to ask. The two of them went to sleep early in Kibum’s four-poster bed, half-dressed and coiled around each other. Sehun had expected to wake up and make coffee and laze around with Kibum the next day, but of course it didn’t turn out that way.

Early the next morning, someone was pounding on the front door like they intended to break it in. Sehun stumbled down the stairs, rubbing the sleep out of one eye with his fist. He had to duck to avoid Junmyeon hitting him in the face when he opened the door abruptly.

“Jesus Junnie, what are you doing here?” Sehun groaned. “It’s barely seven o’clock.”

“I’ve been up all night, I didn’t even notice.” Junmyeon shoved his way into the mansion. Sehun closed the door behind him in a daze, following the older man as he paced around the front parlor.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s going on? Seriously? You practically beat Jongin to a pulp and then he showed up at my house having a bloody mental breakdown!”

“He fucked him, Junmyeon!” Sehun shouted back and it echoed in the parlor. “He fucked Taemin in our bed! What was I supposed to do, congratulate him?”

“Well you weren’t supposed to beat the shit out of him, that’s for sure.”

“Did you look for any defensive wounds, Junmyeon? He knew what he had done and he let me hit him. Maybe you were too busy being up on your high fucking horse to notice what really happened, but the love of my life cheated on me in our house with a fucking dead man!”

Junmyeon flinched. “Sehun, you need to take responsibility for what you did and go home and fucking talk to him.”

“No, I really don’t. As far as I’m concerned, he’s as dead as Taemin.”

“Sehun-”

“Get out!”

“No, I’m not going anywhere until you talk to me.”

“He told you to leave.” Kibum said from the bottom of the stairs, his voice icy. “And I think you should go.” Junmyeon looked like he was going to argue, but Sehun looked like he was about to lose it and start swinging again. He settled for slamming the door behind him.

“Are you all right?” Kibum asked, wrapping his arms around Sehun’s waist.

“No, I’m really not.” Sehun dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. “I need to go, Key.”

“Back to Jongin?”

“No. As angry as I am, I don’t actually want to kill him. I need to go home.” He cradled Kibum’s face in his hands gently. “Thank you, Kibum. For being the beautiful, gentle soul that you are.”

Kibum wanted to tell him to stay, but the words died in his throat. “Whatever you need to do, Sehunnie.”

Sehun kissed him one last time and disappeared upstairs to get his things. Within ten minutes he was gone, and Kibum was alone in the empty mansion.

\--

The wind coming off the lake was cold, but nowhere near as cold as the town by the coast. Sehun didn’t mind as it ruffled his hair, just closed his eyes and leaned on the old wooden railing. The bridge had always been his favorite place to come to think quietly when he needed to, and now was no different.

His hands had healed over in the week he’d been home with his parents, but not much else had patched up. His heart felt like it had been through the food processor. At least he wasn’t receiving any annoying phone calls. His phone had been dead when he arrived at his parents’ house and he hadn’t bothered to even take it out of his car. It was better to stay disconnected for now.

He opened his eyes, looking over the water and the way the sun sparkled off the surface. It was nice to just stand in the sun. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed it, missed his parents and the familiar faces of their neighbors, the lake he’d grown up next to.

He popped open the thermos of coffee his mother had made for him and took a long sip. He knew this situation was only temporary; he wasn’t about to spend the rest of his life living with his parents. The choice he faced was to go forwards, or backwards. He could leave his parents and look for work somewhere else, far from the coast and the life he had lived. Or he could go back, find a place of his own, and return to work with Minseok.

Forwards seemed like the better option, if only because he wouldn’t have to see Jongin ever again. He didn’t think he could look him in the face without feeling that unspeakable rage again. And he didn’t trust himself to not pummel him again.

So that was it, then. Get back on his feet with his parents and then head for unknown territory. A new start might be good for him. For a moment he pictured himself living somewhere up in the mountains, far away from spirits and other people’s feelings. It seemed like a pretty good option to him.

Sehun finished his coffee on the bridge, watching a family of ducks flutter across the lake. It was peaceful here. The ocean in his soul had calmed, evened out so that he could breathe again.

The bridge creaked, and Sehun looked up. His jaw dropped open when he saw the person standing a few feet away from him. His legs tensed, ready to run, and Jongin held up a hand.

“Please, don’t.” He said, stepping a little closer. Yellowish bruises traced his face and a black eye was starting to go down, his split lip covered with black, dried blood. He hadn’t realized it had been so bad. No wonder Junmyeon had lost his shit. “Can we talk?”

“I don’t know what we have to talk about.” Sehun said between frozen lips.

“I deserve that, I know I do. I just…I couldn’t let you go without seeing you one more time.” Jongin came even closer, hands clamping on Sehun’s forearms so he couldn’t get away. “Sehun, I am so sorry for what I did. I lost myself in this fairytale I thought I was living and I forgot that I already had my happy ending. I hurt the one person I love the most and drove you away. I know you can’t ever forgive that, but I couldn’t let you live the rest of your life without knowing how sorry I am.”

Sehun’s heart felt like ice. “You’ve apologized. Now let go of me.” Jongin released him, stepping back a pace to give him some room to breathe.

“I ended things with Taemin. I don’t know if that makes you feel any better, but I told him we can’t even be friends anymore.”

Sehun turned his head aside, looking out across the water so he didn’t have to make eye contact. “I can’t even look at you without thinking about you two together,” he said softly. Jongin nodded, his lips pressed together like he was trying to keep from crying.

“I know. I fucked up so badly Sehun. I thought it was fate, Taemin going from being a ghost to being a young man. And he remembered me. I thought it was supposed to be like that and with you gone-”

“Do not blame me for this.” Sehun hissed, swinging his head to face him. “You made a choice all on your own.”

“I know, I just meant that without your constant presence I forgot myself.” Jongin turned away, a hand pressed over his mouth. He had started to cry, Sehun knew that just based on the way his shoulders had rolled forward. He couldn’t bring himself to try to comfort him. He wanted him to hurt the way he hurt.

After a long moment, where Sehun stared out at the lake and Jongin pulled himself together, the older boy turned around, tear tracks streaking down his face.

“I know I don’t deserve to ask, but come home. Please. If not for my sake, then for Junmyeon and the others’ sake.”

“You’re right. You don’t have the right to ask.” Sehun shook his head. “I can’t go home. I don’t trust you and I don’t want to see you while it still hurts this much.”

Jongin just nodded. “Just think about it, okay? There’s more to this than just us.”

Rather than answer, Sehun turned and walked away. His house was only three blocks to the east; Jongin didn’t follow him. His parents were out at work so he lazed on the couch and watched TV for a while, trying to ignore the part of him that wanted to go home, that had wanted to make Jongin grovel for him back, that had wanted to be with him again.

So he drowned his thoughts in dramas and stayed on the couch as the shadows stretched across the floor. Just after six, there was a knock on the door. Sehun thought maybe his dad had forgotten his house keys and opened the door without looking.

He wished he hadn’t opened the door when he saw Luhan’s furious face. Sehun shrank back under the weight of it. He was expecting a slap, or maybe for him to start yelling, not the aggressive hug that Luhan wrapped him up in.

“Jesus, Hunnie, you scared me half to death.” Luhan said into his hair.

“Lu, you’re crushing me.” Sehun wheezed, his ribs aching under the force of the hug.

“I should crush you. You left without even telling me?” He looked hurt; Sehun felt the tug of guilt in his belly.

“I didn’t really think before I left. I just knew I had to go.” Sehun stepped back to let him in.

“And what has that solved?” Luhan headed for where he assumed the kitchen was and found it. Sehun started making a pot of tea, recognizing what was about to happen. “Junmyeon just about lost his mind, Jongin looks like he went ten rounds with Mike Tyson, and Minnie and I have been trying to find you just to make sure you’re not dead. Is your phone even with you?”

“It’s in the car.”

“That’s helpful.” Luhan sat at his kitchen table, head in his hands. “After I heard what happened, I went down to the cottage without Minseok. I was so mad I left him behind at the house because I knew he’d hold me back. And when I saw what state he was in, I was almost angrier.”

“You mean after I beat him to a pulp?”

“Oh you did a number on him definitely, but he was crying so pathetically, saying he messed up and he wanted you back. He should have thought about that before he stuck his dick in someone else.” Sehun flinched, but Luhan didn’t see it. “I must have yelled for an hour. And he got it from Kris and Kyungsoo too.”

“Junmyeon didn’t lecture him?”

“I’m sure he did, quietly, but the other two were more vocal. He probably has three new assholes by now.”

“He’s here, you know. He found me earlier today.”

“Minseok told Junmyeon where he found you, I bet he passed it on. What did he say?”

“He came to apologize and asked me to come home, for the family’s sake.” Sehun sighed, putting his forehead down on the cool wooden table. “I don’t know what I should do. I don’t want to leave the life I’ve built but I can’t be near him right now.”

“So don’t be. Stay with Minseok and me until you get your head on right. At least then you can work and be with us.”

“I don’t know if that would be better, Lu.” Luhan looked hurt, so he kept going. “I mean, you and Minseok have been together for ages and you’re disgustingly in love. Minseok would never do this to you. Being around a relationship like that might make me feel worse.”

“God dammit Sehun, I am not letting you run away from this. I brought you back to life once I can do it again.”

“It’s not your job to do that. It’s my problem.”

“We’re family. It is my problem and I’m going to help you fix it.”

By the time Sehun’s parents came home, Luhan had talked him into going home. His parents were surprised at the guest, but set an extra place and pressed Luhan for details about their friends and lives. Sehun didn’t even mind when Luhan told a few embarrassing stories. He did mind when his mother asked if Luhan was the one who had brought Sehun back; when he said yes, she promptly started crying and thanked him.

Neither of his parents blinked when Sehun told them not to worry about the linens in the guest room and took Luhan to his room instead. The two of them were almost too big to fit on Sehun’s old twin mattress, but neither of them cared about cuddling close together. He did feel better having Luhan with him, having the familiar presence of the man who’d been like his older brother. It was easier to sleep with him there.

Not that they gave themselves much time to sleep. Luhan wanted to get on the road bright and early so they could beat traffic. It was an early and cold goodbye with his parents, who pressed an amulet of amber and African violet into his hands, and wished him luck and peace.

He didn’t feel very lucky or peaceful as he tailed Luhan’s car all the way back to the coast. He felt more like he was driving back to his doom. It unsettled him to the point that he had to pull over on the shoulder and get out of the car to walk around and take deep breaths. Luhan must have had to get off the highway and come back around, because it took time before he pulled up behind him to check on him.

“Everything okay, Hunnie?” He asked, putting his hands on his shoulders.

“I’m scared. I’m scared of seeing Jongin and not being able to control myself, I’m scared of running into Kibum and breaking his heart, I’m scared of the whole thing.” Sehun bent over and put his hands on his knees. “It’s just too much.”

“If you don’t face it, it eats you alive. And you know I’m going to be with you the whole time. I won’t let the monsters get you.” It sounded silly, but it made Sehun feel better. He got back in his car and they headed off again.

By the time they made it back to town, Minseok and Kris were unloading some boxes from Kris’s pick-up truck to take into the townhouse. Luhan parked first and jumped out to help. Sehun followed shyly, unsure of the reaction he would get from them. Kris just hugged him, kissed his forehead, and told him he was happy he was back. Minseok went for a bone crushing hug and told him to pick up some boxes.

“What is this stuff?” Sehun asked, lifting a box from the truck.

“It’s your stuff. Kris and I went to get it when Luhan told me you were coming back.” Minseok explained, propping the townhouse door open with a rock. “We thought you’d want to have some of your things with you.”

“Thank you.” Sehun’s heart hurt that they had even had to go collect his things for him. Thankfully no one expected too much conversation from him and they left him alone to unpack.

He did feel better with some of his things around. It made the guest room feel more like home. But they’d picked up a locket picture frame, not knowing what was inside. Sehun knew exactly what it was: a photograph of him and Jongin, holding each other tightly and grinning into the camera.

Sehun put the frame up on the nightstand where he could see it from where he was lying on the bed, and finally let himself cry.

\--

It took two months before Sehun could bring himself to go back to the cottage.

He’d spent those two months mostly with Luhan and Minseok, and occasionally with Kibum, who had thankfully started dating someone else. Sehun was in no shape for a relationship with anyone, let alone someone like Kibum.

It had been weird at first not going to family dinners, but when everyone caught on that Minseok, Luhan, and Sehun weren’t coming, they started stopping by to hang out. Sehun had had to share the guest bed with Tao more than once and they’d spent most of the night shoving each other over to get more space on the mattress.

But in that two months he’d let himself grieve and sort through his feelings, and that was how he’d wound up on the steps of the cottage, knocking even though he still had a key to the front door. Part of him was worried that if he just walked in he’d find Jongin with someone else, and that was something he just couldn’t do again.

Jongin just about keeled over when he opened the door and Sehun was out there, hands in his pockets and looking at the pots of herbs he’d left behind when he moved out.

“Hi.” Jongin said, gripping the door for support.

“Hey.” Sehun looked nervous too, which made Jongin feel a little better. “Uh, can I come in?”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” Jongin let him in and moved his laptop and headphones off the couch so he could sit down. Sehun couldn’t help but notice that Jongin hadn’t bothered to fill in the spaces that his things had left behind. But one thing that he did see was Taemin’s hat, the battered old thing Sehun had found in the antique shop.

“You still have it.” Sehun said, more to himself than to Jongin.

“Yeah.” Jongin ran a hand through his newly black hair. “I decided I wanted to keep the memory of Taemin as I knew him, as a ghost and as my friend. The other Taemin is out of my life.”

“I don’t blame you for keeping it.” Sehun kicked his feet up on the coffee table out of habit, staring at the toes of his sneakers just to give himself something to look at.

“I missed you.” It was so soft that Sehun wouldn’t have heard it if he hadn’t been sitting right next to him.

“I missed you too. More than I should have, I think. But it’s what happens when you’re in love with someone. Even when they hurt you, you can’t help but want to hang onto them.” He glanced at Jongin, whose mouth had twisted into an unhappy line. “I didn’t come here to rub it in your face. I came to talk to you. Because if staying with Minseok and Luhan has taught me anything, it’s that some things are worth fighting for. And as much as what happened hurt me, I think you’re worth fighting for.”

Jongin burst into tears. Sehun tried his best to wipe his face but the tears kept flowing. “God, I’ve wanted to hear you say that for so long,” Jongin said between sobs. “I wanted to fight for you too, I just thought it would drive you farther away.”

“It probably would have, until I was ready to hear it. And I think I’m ready now. Not to move back in just yet, of course. But to start over with you.”

“So we start at square one? Dating?”

“Dating, going to Junmyeon’s house for dinners. And if things are working out, then we move on to the next steps.”

Jongin nodded, eyes still watery. “Can I kiss you?”

Sehun considered it for a moment, then nodded. It was soft and chaste, but god it was good to kiss him again, to cup his cheeks in his hands and feel the line of his jaw. He was so ridiculously in love with him even after everything that had happened. And part of it had been because of Luhan. Sehun had been talking to him about Jongin and Luhan had asked him to take off his bracelets.

Sehun was treated to a surround sound memory of what Jongin had sounded like when he thought Sehun was dead. It sounded like a heart going through a paper shredder, like crippling loss. And if Jongin loved him even a fraction as much as he had at that moment, he was worth trying to work things out, even if he had fucked up.

Sehun stayed long enough to set a date at the coffee shop for the next day, then excused himself. As he drove back to the townhouse, he felt lighter than he had in months. The ghosts of the past still hung around him heavily, of course, but there was always a way of getting rid of them. By now he was an expert in exorcising the past. All he had to do was follow the path forward, and hope that when he got to the end, he would be happy with Jongin again.

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo I'm really sorry about this but if anyone cares I made myself super emo too so I guess it evens out. Anyway, they do end up getting back together and going on to kick more ghost butt. Thank you so much for the overwhelming support you've given me on this series. I don't know if this is going to be the end but I feel like it could be? Idk I spend too much time thinking about ghosts.


End file.
